Ritorna Presto
by Sparks80
Summary: Come Back Soon. Paige is about to start school for the first time in a while. She and Emily have a connection neither of them know about. So what will happen when that connection is revealed?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Emily thought she'd never stop crying. She and her mother held each other closely while the doctors pushed this button then that. The priest had said a prayer. It all happened in a whirlwind.

Emily looked at the body of her father, almost unrecognizable with tubes and an IV and a mask over his face. After the doctors had "pulled the plug," their words, they got to work quickly, wheeling away her father's body very fast. Emily touched her father's arm as he was taken from the room. The doctors had work to do.

* * *

It seemed like Paige's mother never stopped crying. Paige honestly couldn't remember a lot. She often woke up completely forgetting where she was, and why everything always smelled so sterile. But the one thing she always remembered was that her mom was always crying. In between drifting in and out of consciousness, Paige would wonder how a person could cry that much. She was always scared her mom would dehydrate. All that crying. She always meant to tell her mom to stop crying, but she was always too tired to say much of anything.

Sometimes, Paige would look down at her arms and not really recognize the color of her skin.

The memories seemed distant, another life, really. Her skin sun-kissed and glowing. Her shoulders had terrible bathing suit tan lines, but she didn't care.

But when she'd wake up lately, her skin didn't look like her own anymore. Calling it a color was a disservice to actual colors. It was more of an tone. A grey tone. Ash colored, maybe. No pigment. Probably because Paige could barely remember the last time she spent more than a minute out in the sun.

These moments of clarity were thankfully few and far between. Paige didn't know if she could handle having these longing thoughts too often. Wanting her old life back, before her kidney disease had progressed this far.

The progression had honestly been slow. A routine test in middle school led to more testing that led to more doctors giving her sympathetic looks and her mom crying, only when she was alone in her bedroom. She didn't think Paige could hear it, but she could.

The crying started to become more frequent, and her mom couldn't hide it anymore. Or maybe she just stopped trying.

The sympathetic looks from her doctors led to suggestions of seeing a specialist. It was a word her mom hoped to never hear again. "I'm going to give you the name of a nephrologist that I think will be able to help."

Paige saw her mom's shoulders tense at the word. She was only 12, but she recognized the fear in her mother's eyes immediately.

Things were normal for a while. Sure, Paige started to get weaker and weaker. But maybe it was just puberty. Her mom was still crying, but maybe she was just sad about her dad.

The self-imposed ignorance of her youth was a beautiful thing for a few months.

Paige started forgetting things and she started to hurt, physically. It was probably just growing pains. Teenagers had growing pains all the time. Teenagers grew. That's why they had a name... growing pains.

Paige made sure she didn't mention the forgetting things to her mom. It would just make her cry more. And Paige really wasn't sure how a person could cry that much.

Paige was never allowed to go to high school. She had a tutor. Her mom made sure she had the best tutor.

The trips to the doctor, sorry - the nephrologist - got too frequent to ignore what the future had in store.

Her mom cried a lot the day the doctor suggested dialysis for Paige. "There are two kinds and I think both would be appropriate for you, and I want us to talk about what your options are and how this will effect your life before we make any decisions. But a decision will need to be made," the nephrologist looked from Paige and her mom, down to Paige's medical charts. "Soon," he emphasized.

Paige and her mom drove home after that visit and Paige went to her room to study and her mom went into her room to cry.

She had to remind herself not to feel guilty. That's what her therapist told her to focus on. Her illness wasn't her fault. Her father's death wasn't her fault. Paige cannot feel guilt about her mom's depression. Her mom only wanted to help. She wanted desperately to help. And when you're a woman who married the love of her life, and had a perfect baby daughter and your husband dies after battling chronic kidney disease and now your daughter develops the same disease less than a year later, it was a lot for a woman to handle.

Paige knew the reason her mother felt intense guilt and sadness was because she couldn't help her daughter. Her mom had donated a kidney to help save her father. It didn't take. Her father died. Now she was sick, and Paige's mom had no kidney to spare.

When she first got sick, Paige heard her mother arguing with her doctor. Her mother never raised her voice to anyone. Let alone a virtual stranger in the doctor. Her mom blew up on the doctor when she suggested she donate her other kidney to Paige, and go on dialysis herself.

"It doesn't work like that, Nicole," the doctor said gently.

"Well it fucking should!" her mom screamed, loud enough for the whole waiting room to hear.

Paige's teenage years were her loneliest. For a long time, the dialysis helped and she felt healthy. She looked healthy. Sure dialysis was a pain, and took forever and it physically drained her. But she had good days. And she was a teenage girl. And she wanted to date and she wanted to go to school and make friends and make fun of teachers and go to parties, just like she saw other kids her age do in movies and on TV.

But it wasn't safe and after being too sick for so long before the dialysis, she didn't really have many friends. Plus, Paige's mom would just cry when she'd suggest maybe joining a band or a club at the YMCA or something. So eventually Paige stopped asking.

In her early teenage years, Paige had a lot of down time. Hours and hours. The tutoring only took a few hours a day, and it happened when she'd get dialysis so she'd have the whole afternoon and night free. During that time, Paige would read and learn instruments and teach herself to knit and listen to music.

But then things started to get bad again. Dialysis needed to go on for longer, and longer, and longer until Paige wasn't sure there would be enough hours in the day for it. Her "good days" became less frequent. Some days, she couldn't find the strength to get out of bed. Then some days became most days. Then most days became all days.

And then they just started taking more and more bags into the hospital room, because they knew they wouldn't be leaving it for a while. And her mom would only leave her bedside to cry in the bathroom. Then she stopped leaving her bedside to cry.

Some days, Paige couldn't move because her joints hurt so bad.

The ringing phone took both her and her mom by surprise. It was a particularly bad day when it rang. Her mom hadn't stopped crying, and hadn't let go of her hand, and her skin was particularly ashy. Paige had started wondering what was even the point of fighting anymore? What did she have to look forward to? It was the start of summer, she was a teenager and she couldn't even go outside and enjoy the sun. She couldn't leave the hospital because she might get sick, and her body couldn't fight off an infection right now.

For the first time in her 5 years of battling kidney disease, Paige let herself lose hope.

But the ringing phone changed that.

Paige couldn't really hear what her mom was saying, it sounded like she was in a tunnel, even though her mom was right next to her. She just knew once her mom started smiling. She hadn't seen her mom smile in years.

Paige knew instantly.

As soon as her mom hung up the phone, Paige said, "I want to go to school."

The effects were immediate. It's amazing how quickly your body can recover after it gets an upgrade to its filtration system.

Paige looked alive again. Her skin was glowing, just glowing. And it was the color of skin again. Her eyes, which had started to look hollow and distant.. now looked clear and bright. Two days after her surgery, Paige could stand up. A week after her surgery, Paige could walk to the bathroom by herself and actually use it.

Her mom cried less and less. And there were days, when she was home from the hospital, that she forgot she was ever sick.

She was healthy. It felt weird. She couldn't remember the last time she was healthy. It would take a lot of adjustment, but luckily, she had her whole summer to get used to it before school started up again.

The doctors don't let the donor's family and the patient meet unless both sides want to. The donor's family didn't want to. But Paige was filled with gratitude and guilt and it's hard to express that in a letter, but it was her only option.

Sometime around July, Paige finally found the right words. The blank piece of paper stared at her for weeks. Then one day, the words finally arrived.

She didn't know anything about her donor, the doctors don't tell. And part of her didn't want to know at first. The simple truth was she was alive today because someone else was dead. Someone else died and their family was mourning their death, but Paige was alive.

Paige started the hardest letter she'd ever have to write.

"I don't know who I am writing to, but I want to say I am so sorry for your loss. There are no words in situations like this. Halmark doesn't make a greeting card for it. All I can do is humbly say thanks to your loved one's selflessness, my mom has stopped crying. She has cried for too many years, and it's good to see her smile. I am sorry that my second chance at life had to come at your sadness. But I promise to use this second chance as a real opportunity. I will not waste it. I will make sure to live a life your loved one would be proud of."


	2. Chapter 1 - The Scar

It's hard to lead a normal life. It's hard to understand your own body when it starts doing things it was never able to do before. Paige didn't know what to do with herself when she'd wake up with ENERGY. It sounds stupid, but when you haven't experienced energy for years, it's strange to have it.

Paige's mom was very, very cautious with Paige and didn't want her daughter to over-exert herself.

"Please... just..."

That was all her mom would have to say, and Paige would stop doing whatever she had planned. Standing up. Climbing stairs. Going to the store.

"Paige, please.. just.." and Paige would stop. This would go on for weeks. Paige started to get cabin fever. It was one thing to be stuck in bed when you were sick, but she felt healthy.

The doctor cleared Paige to run, but warned her to go slow and be careful not to run on rocky terrain.

Once her scar healed over, and it wasn't physically painful to move, Paige started to run. Short distances at first, on a treadmill. Then she started running outside. When she worked up an endurance, she was shocked that she could run for miles and still have energy.

There was a time, just weeks ago, that Paige would lose energy just by walking to the kitchen. Paige had no idea what to do with her new body.

She was very, very self-conscious of her scar. It was large, and because of her dialysis, there were multiple scars on her abdomen. The transplant scar ran from nearly her belly button, to her spine on her right side. It was huge.

It was gruesome, a bright shade of pink from the new skin. When she first saw it, Paige thought she had never seen anything more unattractive. It was this large, constant reminder of how close her life had come to ending and she hated that she had to feel it and see it every single day. She hated that other people would see it. Her mom said it was cute. She said she had never been happier to see something in her life, because she waited for years to see that mark on Paige's body. Had dreamed about it. Had hoped for it. Her mom and her have a nickname for it. They call it "The Scar".

Sometime in July, during her one of her runs, Paige began to lose her breath in front of a small cafe. She had lived in this town for her whole life, but so much had changed while she was sick. This place was new.

It was a weird time of day for coffee, so the place was pretty empty. Paige didn't mind that she was sweaty and gross. Spend 5 years never sweating, and you'd be happy you can sweat without worrying about dehydration.

Paige grabbed a seat at a small table and looked over the menu.

She had barely been there 20 seconds when her eyes landed on the brunette behind the counter. She was the one making the coffee. Paige thought she never saw anything prettier in her life. Never. She went through her mind to try and figure out if she was missing someone. But no one came to mind. This girl was it. The top of the pyramid.

She glanced in Paige's direction, and Paige immediately hid her face behind a menu.

She looked down at her appearance. Sweat-soaked running clothes and a ponytail dripping sweat. Oh my god, could she look anymore like a fool?

Paige felt someone sit down next to her, but didn't look over.

"Who are we hiding from?" A woman's voice whispered to Paige, conspiratorially. "Is it that guy by the door? He looks fishy."

Paige looked over at the petite blonde girl sitting next to her, a curious expression on her face.

"Sorry, do I know you?" Paige asked. "Are you the waitress?"

The blonde scoffed. "As if a waitress would be dressed this good," she said, gesturing to her nice outfit. A little formal for a coffee shop. "I'm Hanna Marin, customer. And you're - new in town?"

Paige gulped, not acknowledging Hanna's comment. She had lived in the same house her whole life. "Paige McCullers."

"Well, Paige McCullers, I hope you just came from a run. Either that or you're melting. You're leaving a puddle. Emily! Em! Get my friend Paige here a water, will you?"

Paige watched as the worker she was hiding from glance over at Hanna and nodded that she heard her.

Paige bowed her head in embarrassment. This was literally what she was hoping to avoid.

"Don't worry, my girl Em will get you a water at a discount price."

"The water isn't free?" Paige asked.

"Honey, these are jokes. Try and keep up." Hanna replied with a smirk, snapping her fingers for emphasis.

"So you were saying you're new in town?" Hanna asked again. The blonde glanced up as Emily approached the table. "Thanks Em. This is my new friend, Paige. She is hiding from the creepy guy by the door. Don't judge her by her sweaty appearance. She's training for the 2016 Olympics. Hurdler."

Emily placed the water down, glancing at Paige with raised eyebrows.

Paige looked up at Emily with apologetic eyes. "The only true thing she said was that my name is Paige."

Emily laughed a little and rolled her eyes at Hanna. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Hanna told my last customer my name is Pohcahontis."

"It should be!" Hanna argued.

"But it's not!"

The two girls bickered a little more, then looked back at Paige, who was draining her water.

"Can I get you another one?" Emily asked.

"Um, that's ok, thanks. I actually need to head out. But it was nice to meet you both."

Paige left a 5-dollar bill on the table and practically ran out of the cafe.

Emily lifted up the money and called after Paige, "Um, it was free.." but Paige was long gone.

As soon as she left the cafe, Paige leaned against the wall of the building and put her head between her legs. Her heart was racing, she was out of breath - moreso than when she ran earlier. Paige had no idea what was happening to her body. She couldn't get Emily out of her head.

Inside, Hanna and Emily watched as Paige ran out of the cafe. Hanna shrugged, turning her attention back to Emily. "She was cute. Jumpy. But cute."

Emily offered a nervous smile, her eyes glancing from Hanna, back to the door Paige ran out of. "Yeah."

* * *

"Is it, um," Paige fidgeted on the stiff couch of her therapist's office. "Is it normal to feel guilt? After?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, guilty that I'm alive because someone else is dead..."

"Paige-"

"Because I can't stop thinking about it. Some days I'll wake up and it'll be fine. But other days, it's like. Wow, I am only waking up because some other person is dead."

"Paige it is not your fault. At all."

"I know. I know that. And I keep telling myself that. But I still can't help feeling that way every now and then."

"Well, let's talk about things you can do to maybe feel a little better about yourself. Have you considered volunteering?"

"No..."

"You should. It's a good way to give back. Feel like you're doing something productive with your second chance. Soon, these feelings will fade and you'll be distracted with school... when does school start up again?"

"35 days." Paige grinned. It was the only thing she was looking forward to.

"Not that you're counting," her therapist winked playfully.

* * *

Days later, it was a Tuesday, Emily remembered a quote as she walked home from work. "The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday."

That's how Emily felt. Blindsided. Her day was ok. Things were going ok. Things were not going great, but things were going ok.

But then Emily walked into her home, and saw her mother in tears, crumpled on the couch in the dark, a blanket flung loosely over her small frame.

"Mom!? What is it?"

Her mom didn't move, or stop staring ahead at a wall, her eyes blank, the tears pouring out like it wasn't even in her control anymore.

Without looking at Emily, she handed her daughter a piece of paper. Emily read through the letter - it was from one of the organ recipients of her dad's organs. It didn't say which one. It was a kind letter, and Emily wished she could be happy for the person who wrote it. But she couldn't. All she could do was wish that person had never written it, never had a reason to write it, that her dad was here to comfort her mom.

It was like she had lost two parents. Because this woman was not the mother she knew 5 weeks ago.

Instead she crumpled the letter inside her purse, just to get it out of view. She joined her mother on the couch and they cried together.


	3. Chapter 2 - A Familiar Song

Paige stood in front of her full length mirror. She looked at herself in the eyes, lifting her shirt slightly to expose The Scar. She still couldn't look at it. She ran the pads of her finger over the raised skin, never looking down. She grimaced as she felt it.

She reached down to a container of a cocoa butter based scar removal cream. It didn't help, but Paige hoped it would make it look less pronounced. She rubbed the cream onto her side until it disappeared then put her shirt back down into place.

Paige hummed a song that had been stuck in her head for weeks.

* * *

Emily wiped down the table Paige had sat at a couple a weeks before.

She wondered in passing if she'd ever see her come back in the Brew.

* * *

Paige laced up her running shoes, pulling the ends of the laces tight so they were snug on her feet.

A run was the only thing that could clear her mind.

* * *

Emily's eyes snapped to the door of the Brew when she heard it opening. A man and his son walked in and made their way to the counter.

Emily looked back to the customer. She didn't know why she felt disappointed.

* * *

Deep breath.

Paige grabbed her left foot behind her and stretched her thigh muscles.

Exhale.

She exchanged it for her right.

Deep breath.

She rolled her shoulders, cracking her back slightly.

Exhale.

She put her earbuds in each ear, closed her eyes, humming a now-familiar song.

Eyes open, a new focus in them.

Go.

* * *

"I don't understand you, Paige."

Paige opened her mouth to speak but found that she had no words. Instead she gave her therapist a confused expression.

"You have every reason to feel guilt about your situation. It's human that you do. It's good that you do. But take that emotion away for a second. Just for one second, forget about that."

"Ok," Paige stomach was in knots. She tried to release an emotion that weighed heavily on her shoulders. She imagined the Greek god Atlas, crouched with a globe balancing on his back. She pictured someone just barely lending a hand... just taking a few ounces of the weight off. She almost sighed in relief.

"Now tell me," her therapist started. "Why don't you deserve to be happy? Why don't you deserve to be alive?"

Silence.

"You don't have an answer?"

"I guess I just never thought I'd get to be happy."

"You don't remember a time you were happy? Even before you got sick?"

"Before I got sick, my dad was. It was..." miserable, horrible, terrifying, depressing, scary, home wrecking, "...stressful... for everyone."

"Aren't things better now?"

"I mean, yeah, of course. But not really. My mom's so scared I'm going to break again, she treats me like I am made of porcelain. I don't really have any friends to talk to, except..." Paige trailed off.

"Except who?"

"Nothing, it's dumb."

"Paige, I can't help you if you won't tell me."

"Nothing, I just met these two girls who were about my age at a coffee shop a couple weeks ago. We talked for like 2 minutes. It was nothing."

"Maybe they wanted to be friends?"

"One of them worked there. They were just being nice."

"Why do you do that? Why do you assume you aren't worth knowing? Paige, you're worth knowing."

"Thanks," Paige brushed off.

"No, I don't think you really get it. I think even right now, you think I am just saying this. Right now, I am not your therapist. Just a person talking to another person. You are a smart, perceptive, funny, generous human being with a point of view that adds value to the world. Maybe those girls were just being nice. Or maybe they saw a flash of those things in you and wanted to get to know you."

Paige stayed quiet, knowing there was more to be said.

"Don't forget that you deserve happiness too. That doesn't change because you had a hard time up until now. In fact, it's all the more reason to start you search for happiness now. You of all people know how quickly life can be taken away. Why are you putting off finding that thing that'll make you happy?"

Paige didn't have an answer.

* * *

Paige picked up her old acoustic guitar.

G.

E minor.

A minor.

D.

Why wouldn't this song leave her head?

* * *

Emily changed the radio station in the car. Hanna drove.

Satisfied with the song, she let her gaze shift to the passenger side window.

Her posture perked up when she saw a woman jogging down the block. It slumped again when she got a look at her face.

She didn't recognize her.

* * *

Paige hummed as she set the dinner table.

"You're driving me crazy with that song," her mom said, half joking.

"Sorry."

Paige went back to setting. Her mom went back to stirring.

* * *

Emily offered her blind date a friendly smile. Hanna refused to take no for an answer after suggesting Emily go out with her co-worker. The blonde, putting it more delicately, said Emily needed to get out more.

Emily tried to tune into the words her date said. She couldn't.

Hanna said she was pretty. She is.

Hanna said she was smart. She is.

Hanna said she was funny. She is.

Emily checked the time on her phone.

How soon was too soon to call it a night?

* * *

"You still thinking about volunteering?"

"Yes."

"A lady from work says the place she volunteers could use some help. Should I get the information? It's a children's hospital."

"Sure, mom."

"How's The Scar healing?"

"Not great, but I guess it'll take some time."

"You still using the cream?"

"Yeah, every day."

"Ok, tell me when you need more."

* * *

Paige tapped a rhythm on her thigh as she walked to the Brew. Stood outside. Just go in. They probably won't even be there. Just. Go. In.

She opened the door and walked inside. Glanced around. No sign of them. Released a breath she had apparently been holding.

"Paige!"

She flinched at the sound of her name on a voice she remembered.

She turned.

"Hanna," Paige smiled and turned her attention to the tall boy with long dark hair at Hanna's side.

"Oh, this is Caleb. My boyfriend and a computer hack who once made Bill Gates cry."

"She's lying," Caleb said without missing a beat, offering Paige a friendly smile and a hand to shake. Once they shook hands, Caleb clarified. "I am Caleb, I am her boyfriend but I've only made the people who play me in Halo cry. That list doesn't include Bill Gates."

Paige smiled.

"This is Paige, babe. She's the Olympic gold medalist I was telling you about."

"You're not wearing it," Caleb said, his tone indicating he knew Hanna was joking. "If I won an Olympic Gold medal, I'd wear it everywhere."

Paige shrugged, "It's actually at the cleaners getting shined tonight."

"Shame," Caleb grinned.

"Sorry to disappoint."

"Join us, Paige. We were just going to have some coffee and people watch. If you don't sit with us, we'll just talk about you behind your back," Hanna said, pointing to a table in the corner.

"We won't talk about you," Caleb assured. "But you should join us. I can't handle her all by myself."

Paige heard the words of her therapist echo in her head. Give herself a chance to be happy.

"Sure."

"So what do you do in between Olympic years?" Caleb asked.

Paige smiled. "Just so we're clear, you know I am not an Olympian, right?"

Caleb and Hanna both laughed out loud. Paige hadn't made someone laugh in a while. It felt good.

"Yeah, Hanna likes to make up stories about people. She says it helps break the ice."

"It does!" Hanna insisted.

"Until you tell my new co-workers that I once hacked the CIA. That wasn't funny, Hanna."

"Hey, you're friends with those co-workers now. You can put the Thank You note in the mail."

Caleb rolled his eyes and kissed Hanna on the temple.

The blonde staged whispered to Paige, "He loves it, but he won't admit it."

"It was a good ice breaker," Paige admitted.

"See, Paige agrees with me."

"So where did you guys really meet?" Caleb asked.

"Table 7," Hanna said, pointing to the table she first talked to Paige. "It was earlier this summer. You flew out of here before we could even talk," Hanna looked at Paige and pouted in mock disappointment.

"Sorry, yeah."

"But you're here now. You came back to find me!"

Paige grinned at Hanna. She was a really easy person to talk to, and for a second, she forgot why she was so nervous to come back here. Then she remembered. The brunette waitress. Emily. Paige craned her neck to search and look for her.

Hanna assumed she was looking for any waitress. "Ugh, I know. Heard of customer service, Brew? I swear this place just falls apart when Emily isn't here."

Paige looked down to hide her disappointment. Or relief? She wasn't sure. At least now she could focus on having a good time with Hanna and Caleb and not worry about turning into a stuttering fool around Emily.

"Oh, she's not working tonight?" Paige tried to ask as evenly as she could.

"Don't ask." Caleb said before Hanna could. By his tone, Paige could tell she struck a sore point.

"Have something to say, Rivers?" Hanna looked pointedly to her boyfriend.

"Yeah. You knew Emily didn't want to go out on a date, but you practically forced her."

"I'll have you know Rachel is hot, smart and totally Emily's type. I'll be expecting a Thank You note from her too."

"Rachel?" Paige asked, the female name catching her attention.

"Yes. She's my co-worker. She was just dumped by her girlfriend."

"That's even worse," Caleb said, almost laughing. "You set Emily up with someone who's knowingly looking for a rebound. She didn't even want to go."

Hanna scoffed. "Trust me, Caleb. I am basically a match making Goddess for lesbians. This might be my one true calling."

Paige's mouth suddenly ran dry. She tried to focus on this new information she had just learned about Emily. She felt her heart race. Her breathing became rapid. What was the opposite of a panic attack? An ecstatic attack? Paige might be having one of those. She'd have to google the correct terminology later.

Paige was snapped from her thoughts when Hanna waved her phone victoriously in front of Caleb. "Emily just texted. What do you want to bet she's sending me an invitation to her future wedding?"

"Yeah, cuz texting while you're on a date is a sure sign you're having a great time." Caleb mumbled.

"Oh," Hanna grunted as she read the text.

"Wedding invitation?" Caleb smirked, knowing Hanna's match making plan had blown up in her face.

"Turns out Emily isn't interested in girls who are blatantly perfect for her," Hanna sighed, tossing her phone in her purse unceremoniously. She turned her attention make to Paige. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone, Paige?"

"Umm, no." Paige said, shifting uncomfortably.

Hanna slapped her hands to her mouth with a look of glee dancing on her face.

"Hanna!" Caleb warned. "No."

"But!"

"No!"

"BUT!"

"Hanna!"

"Ugh, fine. But you are ruining my fun and you are therefore known as the Fun Ruiner. Get used to being introduced that way."

Paige looked between the arguing couple. "What am I missing?"

"Nothing," Caleb rushed out.

Hanna grinned at Caleb with a mischievous l look in her eye. Then shifted her eyes back to Paige.

"So, Paige, my friend Emily is single."

Caleb grunted loudly in frustration.

"Well, I.. um..." Paige stuttered. Emily clearly hated being set up. Paige could tell by how Caleb was reacting. Let alone with someone with baggage like hers. "I don't.." she started.

"Do you see how awkward you made things? Leave Paige AND Emily alone."

"Pftt, fine. But if you change your mind, Paige, you know where to find me."

* * *

Paige walked home, two new phone numbers added to her contact list. Friends.

She hummed a familiar song a little louder.


	4. Chapter 3 - The Closet in the Trunk

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: PAIGE.

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: PAAAAAIGE!

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH ME?

Paige got home from her run and was about to jump in the shower when her phone dinged on her desk again.

iMessage to Hanna Marin: Whoa. Release the caps locks, Hanna. I just got back from a run. What's up?

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: Party. Tonight. You're Coming. I'll drive.

Paige was about to make up an excuse about how she was busy when another new message popped on her phone.

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: "But Hanna, I have this completely fake, made-up thing I need to do." Just pretend I already talked you into coming and we can save ourselves a lot of time.

Paige sighed. It unnerved her how much Hanna already got her, only knowing her so little.

iMessage to Hanna Marin: I'll go. Thanks for the invitation. Should I bring anything?

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: What? Like a bundt cake? No. Just shoes, pants, and a high alcohol tolerance.

xxxxxxx

"So I'm going to a party tonight. With some friends," Paige told her therapist. She was hoping to get some points for taking her advise in the last week. "And my mom set me up with a children's hospital to volunteer. I am going there at the end of the week."

"That's great, Paige. The friends you're going to the party with - the same girls you told me about last week?"

"One of them, yeah. And her boyfriend. I ran into them and we started talking and hit it off."

"Let yourself have some fun, Paige. But remember, you can't drink..."

"I know."

"If you drink with your antibiotics, you'll get sick."

"I know."

"Are you going to tell your friends about the transplant?"

xxxxxxxx

It wasn't until she was getting dressed for the party that Paige realized she had nothing to wear. Her clothes collection, if you could call it that, consisted of two pairs of jeans, a few t-shirts and endless pajamas.

Paige blew a lungful of air out in frustration.

She'd sometimes forget just how out of touch she was with the world. Then it took something like this to slap her in the face.

xxxxxxxxx

"You're dressed like you're going to lunch at Applebee's," Hanna quipped the second she saw Paige.

Paige looked down at her t-shirt covered by a sweater. Her jeans fit okay.

"I don't have a lot of clothes," Paige shrugged.

"Oh honey," Hanna sighed sympathetically. "Let's see what we can do about that."

Hanna gestured to her trunk and popped it open. Inside were several shirts, jackets, and a few skirts.

"You don't strike me as a skirt type of girl," Hanna surveyed her once again, "And those jeans fit good just..." Hanna pulled the jeans down slightly at the front pockets. "Let them ride a little lower on your hips."

"Ok, ok, ok..." Hanna said looking at her clothes. "This shirt. This jacket. And I am a genius and they should give national medals for my service to this country. Come on, you are changing in the car."

Paige knew it would be useless to argue with Hanna. On any issue. Ever.

"Shirt, off."

Paige grabbed the hem of her shirt and hesitated.

"Paige, I appreciate the modesty, but we don't have a lot of time. We still have to pick a few people up and if we get to the party too late, all of the good vodka will be gone."

"Ugh, fine." Paige pulled her shirt over her head and reached for the new shirt Hanna had in her hand.

Hanna pulled the shirt back, out of Paige's reach.

"What the heck happened to you?" Hanna asked bluntly, her eyes focused on the scar running clear across Paige's abdomen.

Paige self-consciously covered it with her hand and grabbed the new shirt. "Nothing." She pulled the shirt on over her head and put the jacket on over that. "Better?"

Hanna's eyes flickered back up to Paige's, sensing the nervousness on her face. "Yeah, you look great." Hanna tried to smile, but it faltered. "Buckle up. We need to get Caleb and Emily."

They drove for a few blocks in silence until Hanna looked over to Paige at a stop light.

"So we really aren't going to talk about that huge scar on your stomach?"

"I'll tell you," Paige paused. "Eventually. Just, tonight I'd like to have some fun and not think about it."

"No one like, hurt you or anything right?"

"No, no. It's nothing like that. It was just a medical thing."

Hanna seemed to accept this answer. "Fine. We won't talk about it tonight. But you're going to tell me eventually."

Caleb was waiting on his porch when the girls arrived. He hopped in the backseat behind Paige.

When they pulled up to the house Paige assumed to be Emily's, Hanna sent her a text that they were outside. After a few minutes, she got no answer.

"Oh my god, Em, take longer why don't you," Hanna said in frustration at her phone, to no one in particular. "This girl takes forever."

They sat in the car for a few more minutes until Hanna got fed up. "Paige can you go run and knock on the door? Tell her if she costs me the Absolut, she'll be forced to make it up to me in free coffee."

"Umm," Paige mumbled.

"It's the house with the porch light on."

Paige got out of the car and straightened the top she borrowed from Hanna. She wiped her sweaty palms nervously on her thighs as she walked up to the door.

She wasn't surprised when she saw her arm slightly shaking when she raised it to ring the doorbell.

A few moments later, the door flew open. Emily stopped abruptly in the threshold when she saw the girl who had rang the bell.

"Paige?!" Emily asked, her eyes wide. "Hi."

"Um hey," she said in response, pointing to Hanna's car, willing herself to speak in complete sentences.

"Hey - what are you doing here? I was just about to head out."

"Yeah, I know. Uh - Hanna sent me up here to get you."

Emily looked past Paige, and saw Hanna and Caleb in the car at the street. While Emily was distracted, Paige took the opportunity to look at her. She thought she had maybe exaggerated Emily's beauty in her head. But she hadn't. In fact, dressed in normal clothes, out of her work uniform, Emily looked even better. Paige gulped.

"Oh! Great! I didn't know you were coming tonight. You look great tonight - is that Hanna's shirt? And Jacket?"

Paige blushed as they made their way to the car. Thankfully, it was dark and she was hopeful Emily couldn't see.

"Yeah, Hanna can be kind of insistent when she has her mind set on something."

"Hanna? Insistent?" Emily said loudly as they got into the car, making sure Hanna could hear them. "You don't say."

"I'm only insistent because I am right about most things," Hanna scoffed. "Does Paige not look good? She looks fantastic, thank you."

"I don't think that has much to do with the outfit, Han," Emily replied, before she realized what she was saying.

There was an awkward silence where Hanna met Emily's eyes through the rearview mirror. "Besides, how about Rachel? You were wrong about her."

"Rachel is hot, smart and funny - the three things I said she was. It's not my fault if you don't find those to be good qualities in a girlfriend."

Emily rolled her eyes, knowing there was no winning in an argument with Hanna.

The party was pretty small, only about 15 people there, Paige guessed. They made their way to the kitchen to grab a drink, and Hanna looked relieved when there was still Absolut left.

"You're lucky, Fields. It woulda been your ass if this was gone by the time we got here."

Caleb worked to make drinks for him and Hanna, and Emily fell into step with Paige.

"Hanna can be a handful sometimes. But I'm glad she invited you. I hope she didn't bully you into coming."

Paige smiled and shrugged. "I'm glad I'm here. She did kinda make me come, but I probably would have anyway."

"So what's your story? Did you just move to Rosewood?" Emily asked, offering Paige a beer from the fridge. Paige gestured that she was okay.

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well, you're my age... probably 16 or 17?"

"17," Paige confirmed.

"But I never saw you at school. Do you go to Rosewood High?"

"I'll be going there for senior year. But you're right, I never went to Rosewood High before this year. I was homeschooled," Paige answered. She was acutely aware that a small smile never left Emily's lips, and she kept stepping closer and leaning in, as if to hear better... but there wasn't a lot of noise in the kitchen.

"Homeschooled, huh? That's cool. Any reason?"

Paige smiled and nodded, "Yeah," she answered vaguely. "How about you? Have you lived in Rosewood your whole life?"

Emily nodded then stopped, "Yes, well, most of my life. I moved here in elementary school because my dad got a job here."

"What does he do?" Paige asked curiously.

The question seemed to make Emily freeze. Paige quickly felt like she had asked the wrong question. "I'm sorry, if that's too personal.. you don't have to answer."

Emily gave Paige a look of appreciation but decided to tell Paige. "No, it's ok. He was a police officer. But he was killed in the line of duty. It's just still kind of fresh."

Paige tensed and put a gentle hand on Emily's forearm. "Wow, I am so sorry. That is terrible. Wow. Sounds like he was an incredible guy."

Emily smiled genuinely at Paige, determined not to let this bring down her night. "Yeah, he was great. A great dad and a great officer."

Paige gave Emily's arm another soft squeeze and removed it. Her fingers tingled where her arm had been. Paige tried to push this thought from her head.

Paige cleared her throat and met Emily's eyes. "So this is kind of a weird thing to have in common, but my dad passed away a few years ago too."

"Oh my gosh, what happened?"

"Nothing umm, sudden or horrifying like what happened to your dad. My dad was sick and it was kind of... gradual."

"Well, that's awful. I'm sorry. Hey, how about we switch gears from the depressing talk? I know. Have you met our other friends here yet?"

Paige shook her head. "Just you, Hanna and Caleb."

"Well, there are some cool people here. And some not so cool people. Come on, I'll tell you everything you need to know about Rosewood's student body before school starts."

Emily pulled Paige by the jacket to the living room, where most of the teenagers were hanging out.

"Paige, this is Aria... and Spencer."

"Hey," Paige greeted the new faces in front of her. Aria seemed to give her a genuinely bright smile, and Spencer seemed to give her a skeptical look.

"Paige has been homeschooled and now she's transferring to Rosewood for senior year."

"Aw, that's awesome, Paige. Welcome. Most of these drunk idiots go to Rosewood High. During school hours, they usually aren't drunk but are definitely idiots," Aria smirked.

"Aria and Spencer are really close friends with Hanna and I," Emily told Paige.

"Oh, you know Hanna?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, she invited me tonight. We met at the Brew."

"And you still decided to hang out with her again? Brave. Hanna can be..." Spencer started.

"Perfect? Amazing? The best dressed in the room?" Hanna offered, seemingly appearing out of no where.

Aria and Spencer jumped slightly. "God, Hanna, wear a bell. I was going to say eccentric," Spencer finished.

Hanna shrugged. "I'll take it. Ok, ladies. I am stealing Paige. I have cool people I want to introduce her to. Um? Yes offense intended."

Paige looked sheepish and she was dragged away by Hanna. "It was nice to meet you guys!" she shouted at Aria and Spencer.

They waved then turned their attention back to Emily. Once Hanna and Paige were out of sight, Spencer looked at Emily. Her eyes were fixed on the place Paige had been dragged away. Spencer cleared her throat to get Emily's attention. "So. Paige."

Aria let out a chuckle.

"What?" Emily asked innocently.

"What?" Spencer said, imitating her voice.

Emily shrugged, her smile growing wide. "She's kind of adorable, right?"

Aria nodded eagerly. "She seems nice."

"Hanna is going to try and auction her off to the highest bidder. You know how she is. She likes everyone to be paired off. You better lock it down," Spencer advised.

"I don't even know if she's into girls. I barely know her," Emily contested half-heartedly, her eyes searching the room for where Hanna took Paige.

"Ask Hanna to find out for you," Aria suggested.

"No way. You cannot tell Hanna I like her. She will go nuts trying to set us up, and I don't want to freak Paige out. She's kind of shy and I don't want to spook her."

"Speaking of set ups, how was your dinner with what's her face from Hanna's work?" Aria asked.

"Rachel," Emily rolled her eyes. "She was fine, I guess. I mean, there was nothing wrong with her. But I felt more in the 2 minute conversation I had with Paige in the kitchen than the whole night with Rachel."

"Ok, well, Paige doesn't have many friends, right? I say you just ask her to hang out. That's innocent enough. And you guys can get to know one another."

Emily nodded at Spencer's idea. That was a good plan.

On the back porch, Hanna and Paige stood back as Hanna pointed people out to Paige.

"That's Toby," she said pointing to a tall, muscular guy with bright eyes. "He's Spencer's boyfriend. Super nice, super cute. I am trying to get him and Caleb to become besties."

Paige nodded, trying to remember all the facts Hanna was giving her.

"That's Jenna, Toby's step-sister and full on crazy person," Hanna said, pointing her out.

"That's Lucas. He's cool, but a little weird. The one who looks like he has a mouth full of Chicklets is Noel. This is his house. He is super creepy, but he buys the top shelf liquor."

Paige laughed a little, and decided he did look a little creepy.

"The girl next to him is Maya. That's Emily's ex-girlfriend slash stupid bitch," Hanna paused and looked over at Paige, who looked surprised at Hanna's swearing. "Trust me. You weren't there for the last 3 months for their relationship. She cheated on Em with Noel. Which, whatever, was fine. Because Emily was so over her. It was for the best because Em was looking for a way to dump her. Made it easier for everyone."

Paige narrowed her gaze at Maya. "Even still, no one should get cheated on. Especially with a guy who looks like he could be a spokesman for veneers."

Hanna laughed outloud. "Most girls at school think he's hot."

Paige grimaced at the thought. "Are most girls at Rosewood blind?"

"Nah, just Jenna for a while, but turns out she was just faking it. Hey, you aren't drinking!" Hanna said as she finished her drink.

"I can't drink tonight, I am taking antibiotics. It would make me sick."

"Great!" Hanna exclaimed. "Then you can be the DD! And Caleb and I can both get drunk together. He was giving himself a one drink maximum."

"Um, I actually can't."

"What? You can't drive with your antibiotics either?" Hanna joked.

"No, I don't have a license," Paige admitted.

"Damn it, Paige!" Hanna exclaimed, kidding.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Eh, it's fine. Caleb is used to being the DD. Ok, so, excluding me, naturally, who is the hottest person here?"

"Why?"

"Just making small talk," said innocently.

"Uh huh," Paige rolled her eyes. "You're trying to figure out if I like Emily."

"Please, Paige. We are not 10. I am not trying to get you to circle yes or no about whether you like Emily. But I mean, hypothetically, if I were to give you piece of paper that says 'Do you like Emily?: Yes or No?' which one would you circle?"

Paige laughed and shook her head. "It doesn't matter if I like Emily or not. I am not ready to date anyone right now."

"But if you were ready to date someone, would we be calling that person a he or a she?"

"You are not subtle, are you?"

"Life's too short for subtle," Hanna shrugged.

That caught Paige's attention. It sounded like something her therapist would say. "She," Paige answered Hanna's previous question.

"Ha! I knew it. Yes. Ok, well, when you are ready for dating tell me and we will get you to talk to Em."

"How do you know I even like her? What if I like you?" Paige asked, hoping to catch Hanna off guard. Unsuccessful.

"Let's just say your doe eyes when you're around her aren't exactly subtle either. I need another drink," Hanna said, tilting her cup towards the kitchen. "I'll meet you back in the living room."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Emily was in the kitchen grabbing another beer when she saw Hanna head in.

"I didn't realize you talked to Paige," Emily said, but it was more of a question.

"Oh yeah, we're basically best friends these days," Hanna said.

"Seriously, Han. How'd you guys start talking?"

Hanna shrugged. "Just ran into her at the Brew again when I was with Caleb. We talked for a while and exchanged numbers. We've been texting on and off the past couple of weeks. No big. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just wondering."

"Uh huh," Hanna chuckled to herself as she finished pouring her drink.

"I really don't care, Hanna. I was just making conversation."

"Right, you don't care at all about the super hot new girl, who happens to be gay. You're just 'making conversation'."

"She's gay?" Emily blurted, nearly spitting beer in surprise.

"How did I know and you not know? Oh my god, I have better gaydar than a gay person. This might be something to put on the resume."

"Hanna seriously, you're not kidding. Don't lie to me."

"Why would I lie to you?"

"But ok, but like how did she say it? Was it like, 'Oh, she's cute in those boots.' or was it like 'I am a lesbian.'?"

"You sound legitimately like a crazy person right now, Em."

"Just tell me, Hanna. How did you find out?"

"I know this sounds crazy, but I asked her."

"What! You can't just ASK someone that!"

"Seriously I have no idea how you date anyone if you can't even find out if she's gay or not."

"There are... subtle things to look for. Like you ask her what kind of music she listens to, and then if she's interested, she'll say Tegan &amp; Sara, even if she doesn't like Tegan &amp; Sara."

Hanna stared at Emily during her explanation. Then blinked. The unimpressed look on her face not breaking. "Thats is dumb."

"Whatever, it works."

"Well my way worked a lot faster and I got a definite answer. But come to think of it, I didn't find out what kind of music she does or doesn't like..."

They made their way to the living room, where Spencer, Aria and Paige were sitting on a couch chatting. Then all shifted to make room. Emily sat closely to Paige, their thighs touching. Emily playfully bumped Paige's shoulder with her own. "Hey."

Paige smiled back. "Hey."

"Having a good time so far?"

"Better now," Paige answered.

Emily smiled and looked away to hide her red cheeks. Emily was overwhelmed with emotions and sensations. She could feel where Paige's thigh was touching her's. Their arms were brushing one another. Emily's heart was beating nearly out of her chest. Her cheeks and neck - flushed. She had gone on a few dates, had a long term girlfriend, but never felt anything close to this.

She had to physically remind herself not to look at Paige, for fear she'd end up staring.

"That's good, I'm glad you came tonight."

"Me too," Paige looked at Emily with a soft smile on her face. Their close proximity making their heart hammer in her chest.

Across the room, Hanna sat on Caleb's lap as he played a round of poker with a few other guys.

"Tell me again why I shouldn't set them up," Hanna said to Caleb, gesturing to Emily and Paige getting cozy on the couch.

"Looks like you won't have to," Caleb answered, giving Hanna a kiss on the temple.

Emily broke her stare away from Paige and looked towards Spencer, who was trying to get her attention on the other end of the couch. "Ask her," Spencer mouthed.

Emily shifted her eyes back to Paige. "So, umm.." Emily hesitated. "What do you do for fun?"

Paige thought for a second. "I like to run, I've been doing that a lot. I play music."

"That's great. I run too, we should run together sometime, maybe."

"Sure, that would be fun. But I haven't been doing it for too long. So you might smoke me."

"Give me your number, we'll set something up. Maybe this weekend."

Emily handed Paige her cell phone and as Paige added her number, she looked up at Spencer who mouthed "Good Job" at her.

When she got home later that night, Paige fell asleep humming to herself, a smile on her face.

xxxxxxx

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: We're getting coffee.

iMessage to Hanna Marin: You and Caleb?

(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: Yeah. And I just thought I'd inform you about every moment of my life. No, dork, YOU AND I. 20 minutes. Brew.

Paige figured she'd have to talk to Hanna eventually, and see needed to give her clothes back.

iMessage to Hanna Marin: Okay.

Paige quickly got ready and made her way to Brew, silently hoping Emily would be there.

"Paige!" She heard Hanna call her over.

As soon as the brunette sat down, Hanna wasted no time.

"You haven't texted Emily," she said after ordering her coffee.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"What part of that didn't you understand?"

"What was I supposed to text her?"

"She said you guys were planning to go for a run. She texted you. You haven't texted her back about it."

"It's been one day!"

"Ok, Miss Playing it Cool. Text her now. Invite her here."

"Why would she want to come to the place she works on her day off?"

"Um, to see you? Look Emily doesn't want to go 'running' or whatever she told you. She wants to see you. So text her and tell her to meet us for coffee."

Paige grabbed her phone, then put it down.

"What if she's busy?"

"Paige, give me one excuse to grab that phone from you and I swear to god, I will send Emily a text with those emojis of two chicks holding hands."

Paige rolled her eyes and sent an invitation to Emily. She showed her phone to Hanna.

"Happy?"

"Almost. What's up with that scar on your stomach?"

"Ugh, it's so ugly."

"It's not ugly. It's cool and mysterious. How'd you get it?"

"You don't really take social cues well, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Hanna feigned offense.

"Well, I clearly don't want to talk about it, but you keep asking about it."

Paige's phone buzzed on the table.

"That'll be Em saying she'll be here in 10 minutes, which means she'll be here in 25 minutes."

Paige read her phone.

"Wow, ok, how'd you know that?"

"Because has asked me three times in 24 hours if I have heard from you."

"Oh," Paige blushed.

"Now. Scar. Story."

"It's nothing, I just got a kidney transplant," Paige admitted, for the first time ever outloud.

"Whoa, really?"

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

"That's why you're on antibiotics?"

"Yeah."

"Were you on dialysis?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"About four and a half years."

"Oh wow. That explains the homeschooling."

"Yeah, but listen. It's not something I want people to know about. It's kind of hard to shake the sick kid image once people know about it. I'm fine now."

"Yeah, totally. I get it."

"Hanna, I'm serious. Please don't tell anyone. Caleb or anyone. You're... the first person I've told."

"Aw, Paige! I am honored to be your first. Don't worry. My lips are sealed. But I do have some follow up questions."

"Um, okay?"

"What exactly IS dialysis? I've heard of it, but I have no idea what happens."

"It's basically a way to clean your blood and get rid of the toxins that build up when your kidneys don't work."

"Oh, that's awesome. Why can't you just do that forever?"

"It's complicated and hard to explain. But basically dialysis works well but gradually stops working. When I first started, my dialysis was about 4 hours per day. And when I got my transplant, I was doing it for more than 20 hours a day. It also stops being as effective."

"Hmm," Hanna considered this information. "You should tell Emily."

"I mean, maybe. When I get to know her a little better. Really, things are okay right now. There's no reason to bring it up."

"Well, she won't treat you differently, if that's what you're worried about. She likes you. And she likes honesty. Just think about it."

"It's kind of awkward to bring up. 'Oh, Emily, how's it going. By the way, one of my organs has a lifetime visa, guess which one?'"

Hanna smirked. "You make fun, but you'll want to tell her."

Hanna looked up as she saw Emily walk into the Brew and over to their table.

"Paige! Mark it down! The first time Emily has ever said she'd be somewhere in 10 minutes and actually arrived 10 minutes later. This is a first."

"Don't get used to it, Marin. Hey Paige," Emily turned her attention to Paige and have her a bright smile. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Of course, thanks for coming."

Hanna let the two girls stare at each other for a second then cleared her throat. "If you guys are done giving googly eyes to each other, I need a pastry."

Paige looked down and blushed, and Emily rolled her eyes at Hanna.

"So Paige, who did you meet at the party?" Emily asked.

"Besides Aria and Spencer, not too many people."

Hanna chimed in. "I mostly just gave her the rundown on who's who. Paige said Noel looks like a spokesman for veneers."

Emily laughed out out, covering her mouth with her hand. After she settled, she put her hand on Paige's arm. "Thanks Paige, I needed that."

Paige shrugged. "Just stating the obvious. I didn't talk to him, but he seemed like a douche."

"He is, but he did me a big favor. If it weren't for him, I'd still be with Maya, trying to figure out a way to end that trainwreck of a relationship."

"Why was it a trainwreck?" Paige asked, still hyperaware that Emily's hand stayed on her arm.

"Well, Maya was just the first girl to ever show interest in me. She was into drugs and partying. I'm more into swimming and studying. Those two worlds don't mix well. We were both too nice to end things."

"Can't help but notice she wasn't nice when she cheated. Sorry, Hanna had mentioned it."

Emily swiped her hand in a 'who cares' gesture. "Whatever, it's over. It's in the past. With everything going on with my dad, having to worry about a cheating girlfriend was the least of my worries."

"Whoa," Paige said, surprising Hanna and Emily. "All that stuff with Maya happened AFTER your dad was killed?"

Hanna piped in, "Yeah, now you know why I call her a super bitch."

"Yeah, you were not exaggerating," Paige agreed.

"Seriously, guys, the Maya stuff was for the best."

Paige walked home with her hands in her pockets, whistling to herself.


	5. Chapter 4 - The Princess Bride

**A/N: I greatly appreciate all of the support and kind words. I am sorry for going a few days without an update. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

"...And the tree was happy," Paige let the words sink in, closing the book, watching the kids faces around her. "Did you guys like it?"

"The boy was mean!" One of the children yelled. Many of the kids wheeled some sort of medical device or other with them. Others had bald heads. Paige had to admit spending time at the children's hospital was becoming one of the best parts of her week.

Paige smiled at the child's reaction. "You could think that. But what do you give a tree?"

The little girl who shouted the comment threw her hands up in confusion.

"I think," Paige rested her copy of the Giving Tree on her lap and thought for a second. "I think the boy gave time and shared his life with the tree, and made the tree part of his life. He could have asked the tree for nothing. And not been there. But now that tree knows it fed him, and gave him good memories and gave him a house and was there for him, like a good friend should be. I think the tree wanted to help and the boy wanted the tree to be part of his life."

"Well he's still mean!"

Paige laughed at the girl's insistence. "Ok, fair enough. Next time I'll read you guys Doctor Seuss."

A murmur of approval made its way through the dozen or so kids at the hospital who joined Paige and other volunteers for play time.

"Hey, do you guys like music?" Paige asked.

The kids' faces lit up, and all of them started clapping.

Paige made her way across the room, where several children's instruments were piled up in a corner. There was no guitar, but she found a ukulele. Quickly tuning it, she took her seat back in front of the kids.

"Good," Paige said to the kids' cheers, a huge smile on her face. "Because this song has been stuck in my head for weeks."

xxxxxxx

"She hasn't called. Or texted." Emily sighed dramatically, flopping on her back onto Hanna's bed.

"Since when?" Hanna asked without looking up. The blond was sitting at her desk polishing her nails.

"Two days ago."

Hanna did a stage gasp and whipped her head towards Emily. "Should we notify the police? Send out a search party? Is it too soon to call every local news station and tell them their competing stations are running the story? You stay here, I am going to send for a K9 unit."

Emily rolled her eyes, checking her phone for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

"I thought you said she liked me?" Emily whined.

"Wow, you sound 5," Hanna teased, getting back to painting her nails. "She mentioned she had some things to do this week. I am sure she's just got other things on her mind."

Emily let out another audible sigh. "How come I am the one counting the hours since she last texted... and Paige gets to be the one with *other* things on her mind?"

"Do you want me to text her," Hanna asked, finally giving into her friend's ongoing frustration.

"Would you mind? Or, I could just text her from your phone? ...I mean since your nails are wet."

Hanna shook her head slightly, carefully grabbing her iPhone with the pads of her fingers and tossing it towards her bed. "I am only doing this because it's been so long since I've seen you this happy."

Emily grinned as she unlocked the phone.

Hanna turned her attention to Emily. "I am serious, Em. Look at me."

The brunette turned her attention from the phone, back to Hanna.

"This is the first time I've seen you really happy since your dad. It's good to see it again," Hanna said sincerely. "But don't get used to it. I don't condone this kind of obsessive behavior unless it's about the Bachelor or handbags. Also don't read my other texts."

"Thanks, Han," Emily gave her friend a small smile. "What should I say?"

"You're trying to be me? Say something awesome and hilarious. Don't disappoint me."

"Maybe I'll just ask her what she's doing."

"Ask her if she's texted you," Hanna shrugged.

Emily scoffed.

"WHAT! That IS what I would be texting her if I didn't already know."

"I am just going to ask her what she's doing," Emily pressed send then looked back up at Hanna, who was waving her hands to dry her nails. "Are you friends with Paige on Facebook or Insta or anything?"

Hanna shook her head dismissively. "I don't think the rock Paige has been living under the past several years has social media."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't think she has Facebook or anything else."

Emily wanted to scream, because some how learning this made Paige even more attractive to her. She was torn from her thoughts when Hanna's phone lit up.

"What she say?" Hanna asked.

Emily's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she read the message.

"What?" Hanna asked, a little concerned by Emily's reaction.

Emily read over the text again. "Nothing, she says.. 'Hey, sorry I haven't been in touch. Had my doc appointment, waiting for test results. At Rosewood Children's Hospital performing a concert now.'"

Hanna got up and grabbed her phone from Emily's hands, not caring that she smudged her nail polish.

"What is that about, Han? What appointment?"

Hanna looked anywhere but Emily's eyes. "I don't know. Weird, right? Probably just a normal doctor's appointment. You know, before heading back to school. She probably had to get a measles shot or something."

Hanna knew Paige had a doctor's appointment this week. Something Paige had referred to as "standard monthly check ups" for transplant patients.

Emily blinked. "You're lying to me."

Hanna nodded. "I am. But Paige doesn't want me to talk about it with anyone. So if we could drop it, it would save me a fight with her later."

"Is it serious?" Emily asked, concerned, sitting up on the bed.

"I think it was? But it's better now. But that's all I am saying."

Emily bit her bottom lip in thought. Lately all she could think about was how she wanted to get to know Paige more. She wanted to know everything. Since the night of the party, she'd lay in bed reviewing their interactions in her head, wondering if she said anything stupid. She's plan out things to ask Paige, when she could see her, if she should text her.

"You want me to tell her to text you?" Hanna asked.

"Would you? I mean, don't. If she wants to text me, she will. I don't want her to do it cause you're making her. Maybe you could just text her something about me to remind her I am alive."

"Sweetie, rambling isn't a good look for you."

Before Emily could think of a witty reply, her phone vibrated in her hand.

(1) New iMessage from Paige McCullers: Hey, what are you up to?

Emily instantly made a high pitched squeaking noise.

"Em, you squeaked? I take it Paige finally got your telepathic signals?"

"She wants to know what I am up to? What do I tell her? If I tell her I am with you, she might think I am busy and if I tell her I am doing nothing she might think I am a loser."

"Tell her you're hanging out with me, but about to head home. God, seriously, how would you ever date anyone if it wasn't for me?"

"Ok, I texted her back," Emily said, ignoring Hanna's teasing jabs. She stared at the three little dots indicating Paige was typing a response.

(1) New iMessage from Paige McCullers: You guys want to do something?

"She wants to know if we want to do something; I am telling her that you are busy."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Fine. Invite her to the sleep over tomorrow night. Last Saturday night of summer, we can at least try and have fun. Plus she needs to get to know Aria and Spence better."

Emily nodded and typed out her message to Paige.

Emily mumbled "Oh my gosh" as she read her response from Paige.

What?" Hanna asked. "Also, you are being a terrible friend by ditching me for your new lady friend. But I am not saying anything about it."

Emily waved off Hanna's comments, knowing she didn't mean them. "Paige. She just suggested dinner and a movie. That's a date, right? Like, that sounds like a date?"

"Dinner and a movie on a Friday night is like... the definition of a date," Hanna agreed. "Why don't you just go, have fun, and not put any pressure on the night?"

"I'm going to say yes," Emily agreed, typing a reply onto her phone. "I am going to say yes to the maybe date with Paige. Then I am going to screen cap this text from her to ask her if it was a date when we celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary."

"OK, so maybe you didn't hear me about the no pressure thing."

"Eee!" Emily shrieked as she started to collect her stuff. "I need to go home and get ready and find clothes. I have no clothes!"

"That's one way no make it clear it's a date. No clothes."

"Not helping, Hanna."

"Well, if it helps you calm down, Paige has like no clothes either."

Emily whipped her head around to look at her friend. "How do you know? You've seen her room?"

"Wow, psycho clingy girlfriend. No. She just told me she doesn't have a lot of clothes. The night of the party. That's why she wore my clothes."

Emily huffed. Instead of fighting, she decided to admit defeat to Hanna so she could run home and try to find an outfit.

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Emily watched impatiently out her bedroom window for Paige to show up. The longer she spent waiting, the more she kept second (and third and fourth) guessing her outfit and hair. She wanted to look casual but also like she was okay if it was a date. She was sitting at her window seat, wringing her hands when she saw Paige walk up to her door. Emily couldn't help but be fascinated with how Paige looked, even from a floor a up. She had gorgeous long brown hair that looked naturally wavy. She wore a simple pair or jeans and a old-style plain baseball t-shirt. But Emily thought no one ever looked better.

"Get it together," Emily mumbled to herself as she made her way downstairs.

She heard to doorbell as she was halfway down and had to stop herself from sprinting down the last few stairs.

Emily yelled a goodbye at her mom, and then opened the door. She knew she looked like a grinning idiot but couldn't stop herself.

"Hi," Emily said as she joined Paige on the porch. "Thanks so much for asking me to come out."

Emily could sense the slight blush from Paige and got the feeling the was the type of person who was bolder over text than in person.

"Thanks for joining me. I've wanted to see this movie in the theater forever. I thought we could just walk? It's so nice out."

"I'd love to walk. We never got that run, huh? So this is like slow motion running."

Paige laughed maybe a little too loud for such a dorky joke. "That's one way to look at it, I guess."

After about a half block of silence. Not awkward, but just 'enjoying the dying days of summer at dusk' kind of quiet.. Emily finally decided to speak up.

"So, Paige McCullers."

"So, Emily..." Paige trailed off.

"Fields," Emily supplied, raising her eyebrows a little.

"Emily Fields," Paige tried out the name. "I like it."

"Well, I'd like to take credit, but it was all my parents doing."

"They chose well."

"Paige McCullers, you intrigue me," Emily said boldly.

"How do you mean?" Paige asked, getting a little nervous.

"You don't drink. You don't drive. Until Monday, you don't go to school. You don't do social media. You intrigue me."

Paige shrugged and let out a laugh of relief. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm a little strange."

"Not strange," Emily corrected. "Intriguing."

"Intriguing." Paige repeated.

"So what was your first impression of me? Besides that I make odd friend choices in Hanna."

Paige laughed again but then scratched the back of her neck when she realized what the answer was. She was sure Emily was the prettiest person she had ever seen in her life, and the thought scared her so much she felt compelled to hide.

"I thought you were nice and funny for putting up with Hanna," Paige lied coolly. "Not as good as 'intriguing', sorry."

After sharing a quick bite and coffee at the Brew, the two bought tickets to the Princess Bride.

"How have you never seen this movie," Paige asked as they headed in. "It's so cool that they're playing it."

Emily shrugged, looking down at the ticket stub. "Princess Bride? Is that like Princess Diaries?"

Paige nearly gasped. "Have you honestly never even HEARD of this movie?"

"I don't watch a lot of movies. I grew up in a 'go outside and enjoy the day' type of family."

"Well, this movie is infinitely better than the Princess Diaries."

"Oh yeah? High standard. I mean, young Anne Hathaway?" Emily nodded in approval.

"Try young Robin Wright Penn. And this is a classic tale."

"A classic tale? What does that even mean?" Emily weakly motioned to the concession stand. "Want anything?"

Paige shook her head. They were both full from their late dinner.

"It's everything you could want in a movie. Love. Action. Revenge. Magic. Billy Crystal dressed as a super old magician dude."

"Wow, now that you mention it, that's what every other movie has been missing. Billy Crystal in old-man make up," Emily said mockingly, slightly teasing Paige.

When they got in the theatre, nearly every seat was filled, surprising Emily.

"Jeez, this movie came out in the 80s and there's still this many people here to see it?"

"It's a classic," Paige insisted.

"I'll be the judge of that," Emily motioned to two empty seats together in the last row.

"Is there a quote from the movie, or a scene I'd recognize?" Emily asked as they got comfortable in their seats.

Paige exhaled a small laugh and bowed her head. When she looked up, she met Emily's eyes and earnestly said, "As you wish."

Emily didn't know what it met, but from Paige's expression, she felt her heart rate pick up a few paces.

The Date? Non-date date? had been going so well. The conversation flowed pretty effortlessly and smoothly. But in that moment in the theatre when they were sitting side by side, Emily finally felt it hit her. She was on a date? Maybe date-date? with someone she really liked. Emily had gone on exactly 4 first dates, if you didn't count this one.

Her first was with a boy, which she didn't really count. She felt sorta bad for discarding her relationship with Ben so easily, but she had no emotions towards him.

Her second first date was with Maya. It was thrilling. She was actually on a date with a girl. A girl who liked her. It was liberating and freeing and she felt like she could be herself. But she wasn't as happy to be with MAYA as she was to just be with a girl.

Her third first date was with Samara. A brief relationship that flamed out quickly. Emily found herself physically attracted to Samara. She was older, pretty, and experienced. She also smelled great and looked like she put a lot of effort into looking good for Emily. Too much effort.

Her fourth first date was with Rachel. And that's where Emily realized she could have as little chemistry with a girl as she could with a boy.

If this was Emily's fifth first date, she wanted it to be her last. She wanted to remember how Paige looked so beautiful, but so effortless most of all. She wanted to remember how Paige kept wiping her palms on the tops of her thighs because she was nervous. She wanted to remember how Paige laughed at Emily's lame jokes. But not the pity kind of laugh or the flirty kind. Like a genuine laugh. Emily wanted to know what made Paige really laugh. Like REALLY laugh. Like the kind of laugh you tell people about years later.

Emily was kind of scaring herself with how fast her thoughts were moving so she decided to focus her attention on the screen. She really hoped she liked the movie, because she didn't want to fake liking it to Paige, or disappoint her by not liking it. Truth be told, Emily wasn't really a fan of period movies (this one looked like it was set in the 1800s or something) and she was more of a horror fan than a romance fan. But she settled in. Her brain spent more time thinking about trying to not look at Paige than she'd care to admit.

Paige, for her part, focused on the movie for the first scene, but then immediately glanced over at Emily. Paige wanted nothing more than to look at Emily, because who wouldn't, but she also wanted to see this girl's reaction to a movie she loved so much. It was a movie her dad used to watch with her. But not like one of those sad memories, where people can't watch the movie or listen to the song or read the book ever again because it reminds them of the dead person. This is like a good memory. It was a movie her dad loved, and he shared it with Paige and now Paige wanted to share it with Emily.

But it wasn't just this silly movie. Paige found herself thinking about Emily a lot. Thinking about things she wanted to share with Emily. Since first seeing the black-haired girl seated inches to her left, Paige would constantly run across things she wanted to share with Emily.

But instead of bugging the girl she barely knew, Paige would just highlight the passage of the book. Or jot down the name of the song. Or try and remember the TV show. Maybe one day she'd share them.

Paige thought it was weird that it never occurred to her to share these things with Hanna or Caleb. She knew both of them a little better than Emily. It's natural to want to recommend a good song to a new friend. But for some reason, Emily was always the person that came to mind. She wanted Emily to like the things she liked. Or, not like them. She just wanted Emily to know more about herself and she wanted to know more about Emily.

"You aren't watching the movie," Emily said to Paige, barely above a whisper.

"I want to see if you like the movie," Paige responded. Emily's eyes glanced towards Paige, then back to the screen. She smiled a little.

"I'll tell you after. Just watch."

"I've seen it a 100 times," Paige argued. "'Farmboy, fetch me that pitcher?'" Paige recited the lines on screen in time with Princess Buttercup. "But I've never seen what you think of it."

"So you're just going to stare at me the whole movie?"

"If that's okay?" Paige asked so softly, Emily could barely hear it. She closed her eyes momentarily to try and calm her racing heart.

"It's okay."

"Good," Paige agreed.

Emily found herself engrossed in the movie and was almost able to shove aside the fact that Paige was glancing over at her every few scenes. "Inconceivable," Paige whispered in her ear the same time the character said it. Emily shivered and smiled. It was strange to her that little things that might bug her if say, Hanna, did it - like talk during a movie - was extremely enchanting when Paige did it. Emily wondered if this was a normal feeling.

Emily liked the main plot line of Wesley and Buttercup, but was also drawn to the plot with Inigo Montoya more. He spent his whole life trying to avenge his father's death. While she would never do anything that drastic, she felt the connection to the character that made the movie more enjoyable.

Every time she felt Paige's eyes on her, she knew some kind of important scene was coming up. Emily felt a little rush of adrenaline each time.

When the lights came on in the theatre, Emily had an urge to hug Paige. She wanted to hug her for asking her to see the movie, and choosing that movie, and for laughing at her jokes and for saying 'As you Wish' to her earlier. She collected herself slightly and turned to Paige, who was looking at her expectantly. Emily had wiped away tears from the climactic ending of the movie. She sniffled slightly and just said, "I loved it."

Paige had a look of victory on her face. "I'm really glad you like it. I feel like I need to show you so many more movies."

"I get to pick the next one," Emily protested, still sniffling slightly as they made their way out of the theatre.

"Fine, that's fair. But I get the next next one."

"Deal," Emily agreed. Her skin felt like it was buzzing with the anticipation of another date, maybe not date. "Do you think you're going to be able to go to that sleep over at Hanna's tomorrow? It's the last Saturday of summer. We have to mark the occasion."

Paige grinned in agreement. "I'll ask my mom and let you know."

Emily noticed that Paige was walking her back to her house, which was out of the way from Paige's home. "Oh, you don't have to walk me home."

"I want to," Paige said honestly. Paige let her hands fall out of her pockets and held her breath as the back of her knuckles grazed Emily's hand. Paige wondered if it was always this breathtaking to have the faintest of touches with someone you liked. She really had no experience in this. But if skin on her knuckles grazing Emily made her feel like an atomic bomb went off in her chest, she wondered what it would actually be like to hold her hand. Paige disregarded the thought almost immediately, knowing there was no way Emily would like her.

Emily was preoccupied doing the multiplication tables over and over in her head because if she let herself think about the fact that Paige's hand was millimeters from her own, she was going to scream. Like actually scream. So 3 times 2. 6. 3 times 3. 9. 3 times 4.

"..Isn't that your house?" Paige asked.

Emily almost laughed when she realized they had overshot her home by about two houses.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Emily admitted.

Paige shoved her hands back in her pockets and got ready for what would undoubtedly be an awkward goodbye.

"So um, thanks so much for suggesting the movie. I loved it." Emily fidgeted. Paige thought she never saw anything cuter.

"Thanks for coming," Paige smiled.

Emily inhaled. Noticed the way the strong moonlight caused a backglow on Paige that looked like a halo. Exhaled. Leaned in towards Paige. Inhaled. Closed her eyes. Exhaled. Leaned closer. Opened her eyes. Noticed Paige was leaning in too. Smiled. Closed her eyes. Inhaled. Was met with nothing but air.

When she opened her eyes, Paige had taken a step back.

"Well, ok, yes. This was a lot of fun. I'll ask my mom about tomorrow. OK bye." Emily watched as Paige nearly sprinted down the block.

Emily softly smirked to herself as she watched Paige's retreating figure. She instinctively knew Paige was just nervous. Instead of being offended, she pulled out her phone.

iMessage to Paige McCullers: You still intrigue me, Paige McCullers.

Emily's phone lit up later that night with a call from Hanna.

"So... was it a date?" the blond asked eagerly.

"I don't know," Emily said honestly, the grin pressed on her face since Paige left still hadn't gone away.

"Then why do you sound so happy?"

"Because whatever it was, it was perfect."

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(1) New iMessage from Hanna Marin: I seriously cannot even deal with you, Paige. How have you never had a sleep over?

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: Hey, so you're going to Hanna's tonight, right?

iMessage to Hanna Marin: Just tell me what to bring.

iMessage to Emily Fields: Yep, I'll be there. :)

(1) iMessage from Emily Fields: Good. ;)

(1) iMessage from Hanna Marin: You'll need toad stool and that ring from Lord of the Rings. Also, a suitcase full of cash. Are you joking? A change of clothes and a tooth brush. Refreshments will be provided.

"Truth or dare," Hanna suggested.

"Are we 7?" Spencer scoffed at the idea.

"Yeah, I'm not really feeling truth or dare," Aria agreed.

Hanna looked pointedly at Spencer. "Scared."

At Aria. "Scared."

At Emily. "Jealous she didn't think of this idea."

At Paige. "Scared."

Emily inched her way closer to Paige on the couch under the guise of whispering to her. "You don't have to play if you don't want to. Hanna will get bored of it in two rounds."

Paige blushed at Emily's closeness and was about to respond when Hanna piped in. "I can hear you. And yes she does have to play. It's half the fun, getting to know the new girl."

"More like scare the new girl away," Aria commented.

"I'll play with the strict rule that the dares cannot include eating anything gross or public nudity," Spencer relented.

"You are a fun ruiner just like Caleb. Fine," Hanna agreed. "The dares will only include eating low fat yogurt and putting on comfy sweaters."

Paige chuckled and Emily felt the vibration through her body because of how close they were sitting. She felt herself get the chills immediately after.

"Each person gets one veto. You better use it wisely because I remember vetoes and I will make your next challenge even tougher," Hanna added.

Paige learned Aria had only gone to second base with her long-term boyfriend, who happened to be a professor at a local college.

She learned Spencer would cheat on Toby for one million dollars, no less. And it had to be someone of equal of greater hotness.

She learned Hanna had a fear rice milk and anchovies.

"Like, mixed together?" Paige asked out of confusion.

Hanna nearly gagged, "I hadn't even considered that as an option. Ugh, both separate and together."

Despite a few relatively tame rounds, Paige found herself disappointed she didn't learn too many details about Emily.

It was Hanna's turn and Emily glanced sideways to her friend, still pressed against Paige on the couch. "Be nice, Han."

"Paige."

"Truth. I feel like taking a dare right now would just leave me trying to chug an anchovy and rice milk smoothie."

Emily laughed and Spencer chuckled, "Thats exactly why I added the no gross food or nudity clause to the game."

"That's enough from Fun Ruiner Junior. Paige. Truth. Hmm."

Hanna saw the daggers of warning Emily was staring at her and decided to go easy on her new friend.

"Biggest celebrity crush?"

Paige thought for a second and let out a small laugh. "It's kind of cliche."

"I love cliches," Hanna argued.

"Audrey Hepburn," Paige answered. "I loved her movies growing up and always thought she dressed so nice and classy. I like that whole era."

Aria nodded in agreement. "She's hot."

Spencer disagreed, "I prefer Katherine Hepburn."

Emily nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"You both WOULD like Katherine Hepburn," Hanna rolled her eyes.

"So who's yours?" Paige asked back.

Hanna answered, "I guess this is my truth. Biggest celebrity crush boy version easily the Biebs, pre-egging his neighbor's house and getting that DUI. Biggest celebrity girl version... Jennifer Lawrence because she is hilarious and we could share clothes."

"Your obsession with JLaw is crossing the border from straight girl crush to genuine gayness, Hanna," Emily observed.

"You're just jealous of our awesome friendship. Me, Anna Kendrick and JLaw, just hanging out and making fun of dorks like you."

Paige smiled, loving how easy it was to fit in so seamlessly with this close group of friends.

"Hanna, give me truth," Paige requested.

"Truth," Hanna repeated.

"I'm truly happy I met you guys," Paige replied. "I was so excited to start school, but so terrified that I wouldn't know anyone and it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I really, really appreciate that you guys are so nice."

Later that night, when they were watching some forgettable movie that was on TV, Paige wondered if she had ever been happier. She probably had been, at some point or another. But nothing better than this exact moment was popping out to her.

Paige felt the weight of Emily's body shift slightly as the girl next to her fell asleep.

Then Paige was sure there was no happier moment than this one.


	6. Chapter 5 - Acute Rejection

"Hey, I need to go shopping for some new clothes. Can you come?" Emily asked to Hanna on the phone, nervously biting the tip of her thumb.

"I am literally never too busy for shopping. Where do you want to go? If we go to H&amp;M on Main, we can swing by Forever 21 too."

"Um, I was thinking somewhere else besides our normal spots. I'll text you the address and we can meet there. In like 20?"

"Sure," Hanna said suspiciously. "You're being very cloak and dagger. Should I bring a body guard? Should I tell my next of kin where I am going?"

"God, Hanna, I am not sending us to a warzone. Just meet me in 20."

20 minutes later, Emily pulled into the parking lot, next to the spot Hanna's car was parked.

"Tell me this is a joke," Hanna said, her head gesturing to the second-hand shop they were standing outside of. "Are you in a play as a homeless person, and just forgot to mention it?"

"This is vintage," Emily argued.

"It's used. Your fancy word doesn't fool me."

"Well, you don't need to buy anything. I just want to look for some stuff," Emily shrugged innocently.

When they went in, Emily started looking through clothes... pulling some items onto her arm to try on later. Hanna kept poking and things like she'd get tetanus from too much direct contact.

"Let's check out the scarves," Emily suggested.

"Yeah, nothing says fashion like a used scarf," Hanna mumbled.

"You're the one who said you'd come shopping with me. Don't argue now that you're here."

Emily grabbed a few scarves that matched the blouses she had folded over her arm.

"I need to try these on. Come tell me what you think."

Hanna skimmed the aisles for a few minutes until Emily emerged from the changing room.

Hanna looked at Emily and tilted her head to the side. Emily had a short sleeved white blouse that had buttons down the front. Her skirt was very high-waisted and flattering, but still old fashioned. The wide belt across Emily's waist made her look thin, but made the outfit look very old.

"You look good," Hanna agreed, pausing. "You look like your husband is a sailor and he's about to fight the Nazis."

Emily rolled her eyes and went back to change into a new outfit.

"If you want to go for the retro thing, the 80s are totally back. They have leg warmers on sale at Urban Outfitters," Hanna offered to the closed door of Emily's changing room.

Emily emerged just as Hanna was finishing her sentence.

The black-haired girl had a small white scarf tied in her hair like a head band. Her all-black outfit fit like a glove. The cigarette-style pants ended perfectly on her ankles, and the black long sleeved thin boat-necked sweater hugged her body perfectly.

"Yeah, you look great," Hanna considered the outfit. She laughed as a realization hit her. "You kind of remind me Audrey Hepb... oh my god, Emily!"

Emily covered up her outfit self consciously with her hands. "Is it too obvious?"

"Yes, it's very obviously. But also super adorable."

"Do you think she'll like it?" Emily asked, tugging on the clothes. "I have one more outfit."

"She would have to be absolutely insane not to like it, Em. Buy them all. You look hot. I totally knew you liked her, by the way. From the beginning."

Emily considered Hanna's statement and bit her lip nervously. Her crush on Paige was starting to outweigh her desire to not have Hanna meddle in her life.

"You talk to her a lot, right? What has she said about me?" Emily asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"You guys are like little ballerinas dancing around each other. Just make out already. God. She has mentioned you. I am like 900% sure she likes you."

Emily nodded and held back a smile. "But she hasn't actually said the words to you."

"No, I did ask. I think she's just shy."

"We start school tomorrow," Emily said out of no where.

"You're observant," Hanna said sarcastically, looking through a nearby rack of clothes.

"What if we get there and she makes friends with some other people and starts dating someone else?"

"Em, I love you to pieces but this 'will they, won't they' thing is getting old. I mean, didn't you guys practically have a date two days ago?"

"Yeah..."

"And did you or did you not wake up snuggled up on a couch with her today?"

"I did, but..."

"Ok, I am failing to see the problem. Look, no offense to lesbians. I am sure it has its perks. But finding the chick to make the first move isn't one of them."

"Haven't you ever just felt... drawn to someone? Like Caleb? From like the first second you saw them?"

Hanna observed her friend for a second. She shrugged. "I guess I thought Caleb was cute, albeit a little unwashed, when we first met. But I don't know if I'd use the word "drawn" to describe how I felt."

"I felt drawn to Paige. And right now, we're in this fun, light, flirty stage and I don't want to spoil that by moving too fast. I've never second guessed myself as much as I do when I am around her."

Emily tossed another blouse onto her growing pile of clothes she was planning to buy. "Plus, with everything going on with my dad, it seems too soon start anything serious."

Hanna turned her attention back to Emily for this. "Ok, I disagree with that. First of all, stop talking like we're discussing a marriage. It's just dating. And I think this is the perfect time to start seeing someone. All the trial stuff with your dad is going to make you really sad and as much as me and Aria and Spence can help, it's pretty clear that right now, Paige is the person who makes you happiest."

Emily considered her friend's advice.

"Seriously, Em, it's ok to let yourself feel happy again."

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Paige looked down at her hands, flexed her fingers repeatedly. They looked - big? She couldn't remember what her hands looked like before so she didn't really know if they looked bigger than normal.

A faint knock on her bedroom door shook her out of her thoughts.

"Come in."

"Hey honey," Paige's mom greeted. "Looking forward to tomorrow?"

"I am," Paige offered with a big smile.

"You must be the only teenager in America who's looking forward to the start of school."

"Yeah, well, go without out it and other people would look forward to it too."

"I suppose," Nicole mused from the threshold. Paige's mom's eyes landed on the pair of running sneakers sitting on the floor near Paige's bed.

"Were you planning on running today?"

Paige shrugged, "I was thinking about it. I missed yesterday."

"I think maybe a few days off would be okay. I know you say you're fine, but I worry about you."

"I know, mom."

"Your new friends in any of your classes?"

Paige shrugged. "Not sure. I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

Nicole backed out of the room and Paige looked over at her cellphone. She wondered if she'd seem too desperate if she texted Emily again so soon. They had just seen each other earlier that morning.

She had an "almost" kiss moment with Emily that she had totally blown. She wondered if Emily was even leaning in the way her brain had thought. She wondered if all the subtle touches were flirting or just friendly. She wondered if Emily was thinking about texting her as much as she was thinking about it. Paige blew out a frustrated breath and reached for her running shoes. She wanted to relieve some stress, but knew it would just make her mother anxious if she went for a run. So instead she reached for her guitar.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Paige was thankful that she fell asleep early - because she woke up refreshed. She was even up before her alarm went off.

She was able to get in a long, calming shower before her mom got up and took her time getting ready.

Her backpack was packed and ready to go by the door.

When she reached for her jeans to get dressed, her cellphone buzzed on her desk.

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: Nervous? ;)

Paige smiled as she typed her response. Somehow just knowing Emily was thinking of her made her feel like she could take on the world.

iMessage to Emily Fields: Looking forward to school. Backpack's all packed.

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: Meet us before school. We all meet in the cafeteria.

Paige promised to meet them and put on her jeans. She noticed that the pants which usually fit fine were a little snug on her calves and hips.

"Jeez, I take two days off running and I am already porking out," Paige mumbled to herself.

Paige's mom insisted on taking First Day of School pictures, which Paige nearly protested, but she decided against it. She knew this was as exciting a day for her mom as it was for her.

She had to argue with her mom a little about letting her walk to school. Thankfully, her mom backed off.

Paige spotted Hanna's bright blonde hair as soon as she walked into the cafeteria and immediately made her way over to her new friends. She gave them a big smile and nearly choked when she spotted Emily.

Paige knew Emily always looked good. She did. She had seen Emily dressed for work. For a party. For a movie. For a sleepover in her pajamas. She always looked great. But today she looked... especially perfect. She was dressed... good. But like really good.

Paige spent a second trying to think of the right adjective when she saw someone snap their fingers right in front of her face.

"Earth to Paige," Hanna added, knocking Paige back to the present.

"Hey guys," Paige smiled, trying to play it off.

"Yeah, we'll just ignore that space cadet moment," Spencer supplied, throwing a wink in Emily's direction.

"Looks like the Audrey Hepburn outfit did the trick," Aria whispered to Spencer, who laughed.

"Sorry just nervous about my first day," Paige said with a bit of a blush.

Hanna threw her a lifeline to change the subject. "Ah, don't sweat it, Paige. You're smarter than most of the people at this school and 50% of the people at this table," she turned her attention to Aria, Emily, and Spencer, "you know who you are."

The girls spent a few minutes comparing schedules, trying to figure out who was in whose classes.

"Okay ladies, I require one more full make up check before senior year officially begins. So, to the bathroom," Hanna announced.

The girls moved to get up, but the suggestion made Paige realize something. She froze in her spot.

"Coming Paige," Emily asked, noticing that the girl had stayed sitting.

"Um, you know, I should probably just head to my first class," Paige tried to brush her off, her mind retracing her steps of the morning.

"I can walk you, if you want. It's right across from my class," Emily offered with a smile.

Hanna observed Paige with a curious look, sensing something wasn't quite right.

Paige gave Hanna a small smile and made her way with Emily towards her first class.

"Look, I know you're probably going to try and be on your best behavior on your first day but you can text me if you need to. Just make sure your phone is on silent, make sure the teacher isn't looking and make sure your phone is hidden," Emily offered some last minute texting-in-class tips to Paige.

Paige smiled but her mind was racing. She was overwhelmed with nerves about starting class, with hormones because Emily probably couldn't look any better if she tried. She also felt something off with her body that she couldn't put her finger on. But played it off as just feeling nerves and paranoid about her body failing her.

She tried to shrug all her worries off as she headed into her first class.

As she waited for class to start, Paige looked back down at her hands. Did they look big? No, Paige was just being paranoid. She was just nervous about her first day of school. But she hadn't gone to the bathroom since last night, she knew that much. Maybe that was normal. Maybe it was just nerves? Paige considered sending her mom a text, but she knew her mom would just freak out over nothing. She didn't want to worry her again.

Paige decided she just needed to focus on her class, and she'd figure out her stuff later. When Paige lifted her eyes from her hands, she noticed that a girl was staring back at her. Paige thought the girl looked familiar and tried to remember where she had seen her.

Then it clicked.

Maya.

Emily's ex.

Paige glanced away, hoping Maya would have looked away. But she didn't. She kept her stare, piercingly at Paige. She wondered what she did to offend this girl. Clearly she didn't care about Emily if she cheated on her. And Paige and Emily weren't even like, a thing. Why was this girl giving her the stink eye?

"Looks like you are off on the wrong foot with Maya," she heard a voice say next to her.

Paige broke her staring contest with Maya and glanced to her right.

"Carmen," the latin girl smiled wide, sticking her hand out to Paige.

"Paige. It's my first day. I've never met Maya."

"Looks like she knows you," Carmen smirked slightly. "Welcome to Rosewood High. Where it's easier to make enemies than honor roll."

"Good to know I have a head start on one, at least," Paige smiled.

"Optimist, I like that," Carmen approved with a nod of her head. "So do you know about this teacher? I hear he's killer."

Paige shook her head. "No clue. I've studied Chemistry before, so I am kind of looking forward to it."

The teacher walked in, and as he was unpacking his briefcase, Paige felt her phone buzz in her lap.

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: Good luck in your first class! :)

Paige felt herself blush, then rolled her eyes at herself for being such a total dork over a girl she barely knew. She typed out a quick thank you message and hid her phone in her bag so she wouldn't get distracted.

As soon as the final bell rang, Paige raced out of school to get to her therapist appointment. She felt like so much in her life had changed since they last spoke.

"So can I talk to you about... relationship stuff, or are we only allowed to talk about kidney stuff?" Paige asked, a little unsure of herself.

Her therapist offered a kind smile and just tilted her head. "We can talk about what ever you'd like to talk about, Paige."

"Well, for starters I volunteered at a children's hospital in Rosewood. I mean, I didn't really do much. But the lady I talked to on the phone said the kids get cooped up in their hospital rooms so they like to just have people read to them or play with them.. stuff like that. So, I read to them. It was a lot of fun."

"That sounds great, do you think you'll go back?"

"Yes, I told them I'd try to go at leas twice a week.." Paige answered, but let her sentence linger like she had more to say. "And I might have gone on a date."

"What do you mean you 'might have'?"

"Well, it's with this person.. a friend. A girl. She's a girl."

"Ok, and you don't know if she's also gay?" she asked gently.

"No, I do know. I know she's gay and I know she's single."

"Then you aren't sure if you like her in that way?"

"No, I do like her in that way. But I am not sure if she.. whatever, it's dumb. We.. it was fun. We had fun."

"That's great, Paige. I am really happy for you. Are you happy?"

"Yeah, I mean.. I haven't... I haven't been waking up thinking my life was a waste anymore. It was so hard... thinking that. Thinking someone died to save me. But I just think about it less and less now."

"Paige, you should not feel like someone died to save you. That person - your donor - died. They died. As a result, you lived. But whether or not you were helped, that wouldn't have saved them."

Paige nodded slowly as she listened. She wiped a stray tear as it fell down her cheek. "I need to ask you something. I don't know if you'll know the answer."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Is it normal to be.. paranoid, like that something's wrong with me - physically?"

Paige watched as her therapist perked up, looking Paige square in the eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing... it's.. probably nothing."

"Paige, listen to me. You need to tell me if you are noticing physical symptoms, and if you don't feel comfortable talking to me, you need to talk to your nephrologist or physician."

Paige waved off her concerns. "I am probably just nervous to start school and imagining that stuff's wrong."

"What stuff are you talking about?"

"Like - my hands look bloated," she raised her hands to show her. "And I haven't really been able to go to the bathroom since.. around 6 last night. And my legs are swollen."

"Stand up," her therapist ordered, standing up herself. She ran a worried hand through her hair.

Paige followed the order with a shrug.

"Turn around."

Paige listened, now facing the wall.

"I'm going to touch your back, is that okay?"

Paige nodded slowly.

Her therapist applied light pressure on Paige's lower back, Paige winced at the slight throbbing ache instantly.

"Shit," her therapist breathed out.

"What?" Paige asked.

"You need to see your doctor. Today."

xxxxxxx

Emily shuffled into her house, dumping her backpack and purse just inside the front door.

"Mom?!" she called out into the house.

Pam walked out of the kitchen with a dishrag drying her hands. She had clearly been crying, but lately that was pretty normal.

"What's up, ma?" Emily asked cautiously.

"The lawyers called about your father. His murderer," Pam spit out the word, refusing to say his name, "Will go to trial next week. We can go, if you want.."

"We can do whatever you want, mom."

"I want to seem supportive.. but I don't think..."

"I understand, mom. We don't have to go if you don't want. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do."

"I want to see that man put away to rot in prison for the rest of his life. I never want him to make another wife and another daughter feel the way he has made us feel. What kind of man shoots a cop?"

"He's not a man, mom," Emily answered. "He's a criminal and he'll be going to prison for as long as possible. You know the lawyers loved dad. Plus, he shot at a police officer. They'll throw the book at him."

"I know," Pam sniffled, using the dishrag to wipe her tears. "I know. It doesn't make it better, but it's nice to know your father helped put one last bad guy behind bars. He'd want his last action on earth to make sure other families out there are safer."

Emily walked up to her room with a heavy heart. She thought about calling Hanna or Spence or Aria, but her mind only drifted to Paige. She frowned slightly, realizing she didn't even know how the girl's first day of school went.

Paige adjusted the IV on the top of her hand and vaguely listened as the doctor talked to her mom just outside her hospital room.

Her phone buzzed on the table next to her bed. Paige tore her attention from the doctor and her mom to grab her phone.

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: How was your first day?

iMessage to Emily Fields: It was pretty good! Met some new people... realized that high school teachers are not as scary as the movies. Pretty good over all. :)

(1) New iMessage from Emily Fields: Great! Tell me more about it before class tomorrow?

Paige looked at her mom. She was crying pretty heavily now. Paige exhaled.

iMessage to Emily Fields: Don't think I'll be in school tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 6 - A World Where Roses Bloom

"It's called acute rejection," the nephrologist explained, but Paige was only half listening. She knew about this, of course. She knew it was possible. She knew around one in five kidney transplant patients experienced this to some extent. But she just wanted to never hear the word kidney ever again.

She never wanted her life to be broken up into morbid statistics again.

One in six chance in developing kidney disease.

One in 10 chance the dialysis won't work.

One in whatever the transplant won't take at all.

One in whatever the transplant will fail after 5 years.

How many times did she not want to be the "one" she wondered?

Paige turned her head to look out her window. The nephrologist kept talking, mostly to her mom now.

More drugs. Drugs more often. More check ups. More tests. More caution. More risk. More bills. More of her mom sneaking in her room in the middle of the night to check that she's breathing. She knew what it meant, she didn't need to hear it.

She heard her phone buzz on the side table for what seemed like the hundredth time. She couldn't deal with anyone right now.

"Paige, we need you to keep a closer eye on your body. Monitor your liquid intake and output more closely. If anything feels off, just call or e-mail me. You know I am always in touch. We can't trust that your therapist will have a hunch every time something's wrong."

Paige nodded but wasn't really listening. It was getting too frustrating to even *live*. Taking a drink of water, going to the bathroom would now be a chore.

"Paige, baby are you listening?"

"Yeah, I'm listening, ma."

"It doesn't seem like you are. Your doctor is just trying to help."

"I know, mom."

"We'll need to keep you in for some tests, Paige. Just a day or two.. to monitor things," the nephrologist said cautiously.

Paige exhaled.

She was so sick of living in hospitals.

"Ok, draw my blood or whatever you need to do. But - I just need to sleep. I'm feeling tired. You don't have to stay, mom."

Paige watched as her mom and the doctors walked out of the cramped hospital room. Most likely to talk in medical terms she didn't care to understand. She took the drugs the doctors gave. She did the treatments. She listened to their guidelines. She listened to her body. But she refused to learn anything more than that. Refused to learn what this disease would do to her body down the line. What it had done to her body and life in the past.

Her 13th year, keeled over her plate of dinner in pain, a silent scream.. noise not emerging because it would take too much energy. People get back aches. People take aspirin. ("Paige, do you want some aspirin?").

Her mom figuring out what was wrong first. Her mom crying in her bedroom. The muffled sobs filling the hallway between their bedrooms. Maybe her mom just watched a sad movie. ("Hey mom, I told you not to watch Gone with the Wind.")

She was so sick of being sick. And just when she thought she was over it, she was pushed back into that life. She'd never be the strong, healthy person someone like Emily deserved.

When her hospital room was empty and she was sick of the quiet, she put in her headphones and hummed along to the only song she wanted to sing lately.

The ringing of her phone woke her up. For the first few rings, she convinced herself it was a bad dream, but then the nurse came in and told her to turn the ringer off or answer it.

"Answer it, little Miss popular. It's been ringing all morning."

Paige pressed 'accept' on her phone without looking at who was calling.

"Where are you?"

Still groggy, Paige didn't recognize the caller's voice.

"Who...?"

"It's Hanna. Now answer the question."

"Shouldn't you be at school, Hanna?"

"Shouldn't YOU be at school, Paige? Playing hookie on your second day isn't a way to make a good impression."

"I -"

"Before you come up with some lie to tell me, you should know I already know something's wrong. I saw it yesterday at school. You're sick."

Paige took a breath. "I'm fine. They just have to run some tests."

"You're lying to me again. Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me? Ever. I've only ever told you the truth. And any time you've asked me to keep something a secret, I have. Now don't lie to me."

"My body is rejecting my new kidney. But it's common. It just means I'll need to re-calibrate my drugs. And in order to do that, they need to do some tests."

"You said you were healthy now," Hanna said defensively, her tone obviously worried.

"At the time I told you that, I was. But that changed. Again, this is common. It happens to like 20 percent of transplant patients..."

"Just because it's common doesn't make it okay," Hanna added.

"No, I guess you're right."

"Where are you? Do you have a special kidney doctor?"

Paige laughed, "No, I'm just at Rosewood General. But I'll be out tomorrow or Thursday," Paige added cautiously.

"I'm coming to visit. And I am bringing make up and you are going to let me doll you up so you don't look like hospital."

"Hanna.."

"Can I bring Caleb?"

"Hanna?"

"What? Fine. You don't want Caleb to know. We'll just tell him you got food poisoning. He's a dope, he won't know the difference."

"Fine, you can bring Caleb."

"And Emily?"

"No, Hanna. Absolutely NO Emily. I don't want her to know I'm here. She already thinks I'm weird, I don't need her thinking I am some chronic sick person too."

"Emily so does NOT think you're weird."

"Hanna, please. "

"Fine, but you need to talk to her because she has been driving me crazy all night yesterday and all morning today asking about you. You'd think that's the only reason she keeps me around anymore."

"You really won't tell her?" Paige asked.

Hanna let out a dramatic sigh that made Paige smile. "Fine! I won't. But you owe me one. No seven. You owe me seven. And I get to choose what they are and I get to use them whenever I please."

"Yes, I owe you seven," Paige agreed.

Paige hung up and looked down at her phone. Three texts from Emily. One call from Emily. Five calls from Hanna. Some texts from Spencer and Aria.

Paige knew she couldn't call Emily because she was still in class. So she chose to send her a text, being vague about a generic illness. Apologizing for missing her texts.

"You seemed fine when I saw you yesterday. Your body must not be used to gross cafeteria food," Emily offered her an easy out and she took it.

It wasn't until weeks later that Paige totally felt like herself again. The doctors had released her a few days later, but it takes a while for your body to get back to normal. For your mind to be clear. But her mind was clear one Friday afternoon a few weeks later when Emily caught up with her before the last period of the day.

"Paige!" Emily called from a few yards away, jogging a little to catch up to her.

Paige felt her internal organs feel like they were catching fire. Then she smiled to herself knowing that wasn't a symptom of any illness, but just a symptom of having Emily close.

"Hey, what's up?" Paige asked, walking a little to meet Emily half way.

"You know, I was just thinking... we said we'd watch some movies together sometime. But we've never really done that yet."

Paige smiled and bowed her head to try and hide her blush.

"No, I guess you're right."

"Are you busy tonight? Maybe around 7? Want to hang out?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Yeah - I mean no. I mean.." Paige crinkled her face. 'Pick a sentence, you idiot,' Paige berated herself internally.

"Oh... it's fine.." Emily slumped her shoulders, slightly defeated, backing away slowly.

"No, no. Sorry. I mean, No I am not busy and Yes I can hang out. 7 works. Where would you like to go?"

"I'm kind of down for a not-leaving-the-couch kind of night. Pizza at my place?"

Paige smiled. "Your turn to choose the movie, right?"

"Why don't we do a double feature?" Emily asked hopefully. She was unabashedly trying to spend as much time with Paige as possible, and didn't care if it seemed obvious. "I'll pick the first movie. You pick the second one?"

Paige smiled and locked eyes with Emily. She knew just the movie she'd pick. "Yeah, that sounds perfect."

xxxxxxxx

"It needs to say 'I'm available and interested' but also needs to be casual enough to watch movies at home on the couch," Emily voiced her clothing dilemma to Hanna, who was sitting at Emily's desk after school.

Hanna opened her mouth to talk but Emily interrupted her with more questions. "Oh and I also need to pick a movie. I was thinking about choosing a horror movie because that could mean we cuddle if she gets scared. But what if she really just doesn't like horror movies? And if I pick a romantic movie, is that too obvious?"

Emily was shoulder deep in her closet, tossing out possible outfits to wear as she saw them.

Again, Hanna opened her mouth to give advice and again she was cut off.

"What about this? No too slutty," Emily commented mostly to herself. "This? No.."

When there was a break in Emily's stream of consciousness of nerves, Hanna finally spoke up. "You wear the black Audrey Hepburn pants and sweater with the white headband because she hasn't seen you wear it yet and you look hot in it. And you choose a horror movie with a plot and not too many scary moments. Something like the Exorcist. Classic. Or Carrie, even better because naked ladies. You choose horror because you like horror movies and you shouldn't be fake on your first or second or third date or whatever this is."

Hanna took a breath while Emily looked at her, dumbfounded.

"Now did I answer all of your questions or did you want me to go on the date for you too?"

"You think it's a date?" Emily asked hopefully.

Hanna let out a muffled scream as she just barely stopped herself from hitting her head on the desk out of frustration.

Hours later when Emily was showered and dressed and Carrie was set in the DVD player, Emily raced through her house, cleaning up, heating the popcorn, arranging the snacks just so, and thanking whatever deity there was up there that her mom worked overnight on Fridays. Every few seconds she'd glance at her watch and wondered how time could possible go so slow. When she thought of it, she purposefully made her house a little cooler by turning down the heat on the brisk October night. Then she strategically put out only one blanket just in case they got cold. Emily wondered if she'd ever plan every detail so meticulously for a date again. Man, Paige just got to her.

Right before she heard a soft knocking on her front door, Emily made a resolution that she'd kiss Paige before the end of the night. She put her foot down in her mind. She'd do it. Oh god, she hoped she'd finally just do it.

Paige felt like she'd swallowed her tongue when she saw Emily. Her clothes fit her so perfectly, and she looked like her style was completely Audrey Hepburn, but still so distinctly Emily. Paige couldn't even think of Audrey Hepburn when she was around Emily anyway. Audrey was a school girl movie crush. If Paige could dream up the most perfect girl with the most perfect features, Emily'd still have her beat by a mile. Paige blinked when she realized she'd been staring.

"What movie's first?" Paige asked when they got settled on the couch. Emily immediately estimated the space between them to be 'too much'.

"Carrie. Sissy Spacek. Crazy eyes. Crazier mom. Have you seen it?" Emily asked, eyeing Paige's reaction.

Paige smirked. "Bits and pieces. Pigs blood at prom. Never saw the whole thing, but I've wanted to."

Emily reached on the coffee table for the remote and that's when a piano and a guitar in the next room over caught Paige's attention.

"You play piano?" Paige asked, gesturing towards the instruments.

Emily shook her head, a little embarrassed. She knew Paige was musically gifted and didn't want to seem uneducated in the subject. "The piano and guitar were my dad's. My mom hasn't wanted to move them."

Paige unconsciously scooted a little closer to Emily. "The more I learn about your dad, the cooler he seemed to be. I'd like to hear more about him, if you'd like to talk about him."

Emily tilted her head towards Paige, totally taken aback by Paige's genuine tone and kind words. She also inched her way in Paige's direction.

"I'd like to tell you about him sometime. Thank you, Paige." Emily felt her breath stuck in her throat. There was no way this was just a crush. Emily was positive this was way, way more.

Paige nodded towards the TV and Emily pressed play. While the credits rolled, Paige unfolded the blanket and scooted even closer to Emily.

"Cold?" Paige asked.

Emily was actually quite warm because it felt like her heart was pumping blood a thousand times faster than normal. But there was no way she'd say no to sharing a blanket with Paige.

During a lull in the movie, Emily held back a smile when Paige whispered 'Your hair smells really good'. Emily distinctly remembered thinking if there was something Paige could say that she wouldn't like, she has no idea what it is. Even the worst things coming from her voice would sound lovely.

Emily was totally spaced out during the prom scene and surprised when Paige jumped a little when Carrie started going postal. She saw Paige's knee bouncing nervously and bravely pressed her palm to her knee, hoping to calm her. Little did Emily know this only caused MUCH more nerves in Paige. Nerves of a completely different kind.

When the first movie ended, Emily managed to tear herself away from Paige's closeness for a bathroom and snack break.

Paige snuck over to the piano and began poking unceremoniously at the keys. She only had a keyboard at her house, so it was fun to mess around with a piano.

"Play me something," Emily said from the kitchen.

"I don't play the piano well. I can barely read the music like this -" Paige said, grabbing the first song book off the stack on top of the piano, opening it to a random page. "This looks like gibberish to..." Paige trailed off.

Emily appeared next to Paige a few moments later. "What?" Emily asked when she noticed Paige staring at the songbook. "What is it, Paige?"

Without looking up from the songbook, Paige asked, "Do you believe in fate?"

"What do you mean?" Emily asked nervously.

Paige met Emily's eyes.

"For weeks..." Paige started, her eyes searching Emily's for some answer. "Scratch that, for months. Scratch THAT. Since I met YOU, I've been walking around with this song in my head, Emily."

"Yeah?" Emily asked, a little unsure of where Paige was going with this.

"I mean it. The day I met you, I was singing it to myself. It was this song I've known for years. This song I've heard for years. This song that..." Paige wiped her palms nervously on her pants. She felt like this was an out of body experience.

"Emily, this song was in my favorite movie growing up. Do you understand? It's a song from the movie I brought with me tonight. It's been stuck in my head, so I wanted to watch the movie." Paige explained almost frantically. "For so long, I had no idea what the lyrics meant. I just sang them. And then I met you and it was like it clicked. I got it. I understood it."

Emily took a cautious step towards Paige.

"What song is it, Paige?"

"It's this song, Emily," Paige turned the songbook towards Emily. "I grabbed the first songbook off the stack and opened it to a random page, and it opened to that song."

Emily read the title, "La Vie en Rose? I don't know it."

"I think your dad was trying to learn it on piano. There are some notes written here. This is weird, right?"

Emily tried to digest what Paige was saying to her and the fact that her dad was trying to learn this song. "Play it," Emily said gently.

"I don't really play piano very well," Paige shrugged off.

"Then use the guitar, I want to hear it."

Paige tried to read Emily's face, but it remained neutral. So she grabbed the acoustic guitar off the stand, quietly checked the tuning and sat on the piano bench.

She strummed softly, keeping eye contact with Emily while trying to will her fingers not to mess this up for her.

"Hold me close, and hold me fast. This magic spell you cast. This is la vie en rose," Paige sang softly but with all the heart she could possibly put into a song. She wondered if Emily would notice her knees shaking.

"When you kiss me, heaven sighs. And though I close my eyes. I see la vie en rose."

Paige felt her cheeks pinken at the words.

"And when you press me to your heart, I'm in a world apart, a world where roses bloom.

"And when you speak, angels sing from above. Everyday words seem to turn into love songs.

"Give your heart and soul to me, and life will always be la vie en rose."

Paige finished the melody and slowed her strum, slowly lifting her gaze to meet Emily's.

"That song made you think of me?" Emily asked.

"You made me think of that song. I haven't been able to hear anything else for months."

Emily had moved impossibly closer now. The black-haired girl kneeled in front of Paige so they were the same height while Paige was sitting on the bench.

"Why?" Emily asked in an exhale without breaking eye contact.

"Because, because..." words failed Paige so she moved her head forward just an inch forward and gently met Emily's soft lips.

Paige couldn't think of much. She could barely breathe much. She managed to take her hand off the guitar and gently press it to Emily's jawbone. The small action sparked something in Emily, who grabbed the back of Paige's neck and pulled her in for a deeper kiss.

Emily couldn't understand it. Paige was kissing her lips so perfectly, and touching her face... but she felt it everywhere. Everything was tingling from her scalp to her toes. If she wasn't kneeling, her leg would have done that bizarre kick thing that only happened in movies.

Emily had kissed Paige a thousand times, but 999 of them had been in her head. This one was so much better than the ones her brain had worked up. It was a senses overload.

Paige smelled so great, like clean and citrus. She smelled just fresh and lovely. And she was so soft and smooth. And her ears were buzzing and swishing from the extra pounding of her heart. And the taste? Oh god, Paige just tasted like sweet and warm at the same time. Like when you want your favorite dessert so bad you could taste it. Like that. Paige was like that but so much better than she could describe and she never wanted this moment to end.

When Paige could regain her thoughts, which wasn't, like, fast. She thought about the Princess Bride and how the end of that movie, they said there were the top 5 kisses named the most passionate, the most pure. But this one right now left them all in the dust.

Paige sighed. She wondered how long they had kissed, and what happened to the guitar that used to be on her lap (it was on the floor, and now Emily was on her lap).

The slamming of piano keys knocked them out of their make out session. Emily had leaned into Paige a little too far, causing Paige's elbows to hit the keys loudly. Paige giggled in embarrassment, Emily didn't and wondered how quickly the kissing could resume.

Paige leaned forward slightly and ran a finger down the side of Emily's face and placed a soft, tentative kiss on Emily's lips.

"You owe me a movie," Paige said softly.

"The magical movie with the magical song," Emily agreed, but not budging from Paige's lap.

"Sabrina," Paige clarified.

"Who's that?" Emily asked.

Paige smirked. "It's the name of the movie. It's one of my favorites. It's about never giving up on love."

"That's an Audrey Hepburn movie," Emily stated, still not budging.

"It is."

"Am I going to have to compete with her for your attention?" Emily asked, half teasing but also genuinely asking.

Paige brushed a hair out of Emily's face and looked her straight in the eyes. "Trust me. You have no competition."

A/N: Thank you all for reading, and being patient with the updates. I am in the process of moving, so time isn't in excess right now. If you happen to be interesting in the song Paige sang,

youtu. be/3Ba_WoSZXvw

This is a youtuber's rendition, and the closest version I could find to the one in my head.


	8. Chapter 7 - Our Way to Fall

A/N: Thank you to all of you lovely, kind people who have taken the time to read this story. More thanks to those who have left a comment, given feedback or sent a private message. Your messages are encouraging and it would be silly to write without people taking the time to read, so genuinely - thank you. That being said, anyone else just feel like we're all just kicking around, passing time until an update of Locum Tenens? I can't be the only one. Thanks!** Here's the next part of this story:**

Paige tried to listen to the movie, one of her favorites, but all she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears. Emily was laying with her head on Paige's lap and Paige almost couldn't breathe. She ran her hands through Emily's hair because she has wanted to for months and this was the first time she felt like she was able to.

"Mm, that feels nice but it's going to put me to sleep. I want to finish watching this," Emily mumbled.

Paige smiled and ran her fingers through her hair a few more times then rested her hand on Emily's shoulder instead.

When the movie wrapped up, Emily sat up and grabbed Paige's hands, playing with her fingers. "You have good taste in movies. I liked that one too," Emily said, looking at their hands.

"I liked 'Carrie' a lot too, I love old scary movies like that. I've always wanted to see The Shining too. Have you seen it?"

Emily grinned and nodded, leaning in for a soft kiss. "Yeah, I own it. We can watch it whenever you want."

Paige felt herself lean back on the couch, Emily hovering over her as they kissed more passionately. Paige let her hands travel up and down Emily's back and occasionally running through her hair. Emily's hands stayed pretty firmly on Paige's hips. Besides her face and hair, Paige's hips were easily Emily's favorite part. Emily loved the way jeans fit around them. She was always drawn to Paige's hips any time she saw her running or walking or just standing there. Emily never thought hips would be something she'd find attractive, but she found Paige's hips amazingly attractive. Her hands gripped them tighter, realizing just how many times she had wanted to touch them but wasn't allowed to. She was allowed to now.

Paige found herself moaning lightly when she felt Emily's left hand slide slightly underneath her shirt. She couldn't believe this was happening. Emily Fields. EMILY FIELDS was kissing her. Emily Fields had her hand going up... when she realized Emily's hand was getting closer to her scar, she froze.

Emily got the hint and quickly pulled away, internally cursing herself for getting so ahead of herself. Jesus. They had only kissed for the first time 2 hours ago and Emily was already trying to feel Paige up. "Paige, I'm so sorry... that was.. way too fast. I'm sorry, I just got carried away and..."

Paige shook her head and put her hand on Emily's shoulder to stop her rambling. "Honestly, it's fine. I really enjoyed it, but... um, there's something I want to tell you."

Paige sat up a little on the couch and straightened her shirt back into place.

"I, um..." she started.

The opening front door caught both their attention. Emily's mom walked into the foyer calling out her her daughter.

"Emmy? You still up, honey?" Pam asked as she took off her coat.

Emily visibly tensed and smoothed her clothes and hair to avoid being caught by her mom. "Yeah, mom. In the living room."

Pam walked in and gave a smile and a curious look to Paige. "Mom, this is Paige, a new friend from school. We were just watching movies."

Paige hurriedly got up and gave Pam a big smile and stuck out her hand, "Hi, so nice to meet you."

Pam shared the smile and looked over to Emily with her eyebrows raised.

"Likewise," Pam said with a smirk. "Listen, kids - I had to pull a double shift tonight, so if you could keep it down..."

Paige quickly jumped in, "It's getting late anyway, I should head home."

Pam furrowed her brow, "You're not going to stay the night?"

Paige gave her a smile and looked over at Emily. "No, thanks - my mom would NOT like if I wasn't in my bed in the morning."

"Ok, well, I am getting to bed. Goodnight girls. Nice to meet you, Paige."

The two girls exhaled a huge breath as Pam's bedroom door finally closed.

"That was close," Paige whispered.

"Yeah," Emily matched her low volume, "What were you going to tell me?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Never mind. I really should get home. My mom really will freak if I am not home."

"I can give you a ride... if you want. It's past 2 in the morning, I don't want you riding your bike home by yourself."

Paige grinned, "Oh, but how will I get my bike back?"

"I guess you'll just have to hang out with me tomorrow?" Emily suggested innocently.

"I'll see if I can find the time," Paige said with fake indifference in her voice which made both girls laugh.

"I'll only give you a ride home if you promise to make out a little in the car."

"Well, you drive a hard bargain but I suppose I could take that deal," Paige winked, looked cautiously at Pam's bedroom door and gave Emily a quick kiss.

"Can I be completely honest," Emily said, her eyes still closed.

"What's up?" Paige asked.

"I have wanted you to do that since I first saw you," Emily admitted and blushed, looking away.

"What, this?" Paige leaned in for another stolen kiss.

"Technically yes, but what I imagined when I first saw you was more like what we were doing on the couch."

"No way," Paige brushed off.

"Seriously," Emily said, meeting Paige's eyes hoping to convey her honesty.

"But... why?"

Emily was taken back by the genuine tone in Paige's question.

"Are you kidding me? You were wearing skin tight running clothes. You looked super cute and were sweaty and..."

"Gross?" Paige supplied.

"Sexy," Emily corrected.

"*You* were sexy," Paige countered.

"I was in work clothes, I smelled like stale coffee and I had no make up on," Emily deadpanned.

"You were extremely, extremely pretty. I can't think of anyone prettier," Paige offered a small smile and a simple shrug.

Emily gulped and looked into Paige's eyes. "Are you sure you can't stay the night?"

"Unless you want to answer to my mom tomorrow, and trust me, you don't... I should get home."

"Ugh, fine. But you don't get to say any perfect, romantic stuff tonight or I am not letting you out of the car."

Paige laughed as she got up to get her DVD out of the player and get her stuff together. "No promises," she said.

After pulling up in front of Paige's house and a few minutes of making out where Emily had to fight the urge to unbuckle her seatbelt and climb on top of Paige, they finally managed to tear away from one another.

"I told you not to say any more romantic stuff," Emily said.

"I didn't say anything!" Paige chuckled.

"You didn't have to."

"So, umm.. Emily? Are you going to tell Hanna? I just... knowing her.. she's going to ask. And since she's one of your best friends, I'll do whatever you want to do."

Emily rested her hands on the bottom of the steering wheel as she thought about the question. "We could not tell Hanna but she's going to figure it out. This is Hanna. She probably already has. She was probably spying through the windows or something."

"Yeah," Paige let out a small laugh. "I don't like the idea of lying to her anyway. She kinda got on my case recently about lying and I don't want to make her think I don't trust her."

Emily tapped the wheel again. "Well, I mean, what are we going to tell her? That we... kissed... or.."

"What's the truth?" Paige asked. "Are we... I mean..."

"Dating?" Emily offered. "Casual."

"Casual," Paige nodded in agreement. "Casual dating. Mutual liking-ness."

"'Liking-ness'? Ok, it's officially time to call it a night when you start making up words. But we'll hang out tomorrow? Or... I guess, today?"

"Sure," Paige reached for the door handle and opened it. "A date, maybe?"

Emily bit down hard on her lower lip to stop the grin from spreading on her face. "Yeah, that sounds awesome."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Emily shifted her car into park and took out her cellphone. She found the number she was looking for and listened to it ring a few times. After several rings, a groggy Hanna picked up.

"I hate you. Are you on fire? Why are you calling me at 2:30 in the morning?"

"You love me. Come downstairs, I'm outside. I need to talk to you," Emily responded.

Hanna grumbled and made noises of protest but Emily could tell she was getting up. A few seconds later the line cut off and Hanna appeared at the front door.

"Why are you here?"

"I just dropped off Paige at home," Emily said with a big grin.

"...And," Hanna said, losing her patience slightly.

"We kissed," Emily blurted. "A few times."

Hanna finally broke her stone face and smiled genuinely and gave Emily a hug. "That's great, sweetie. I am so happy for you."

"And we're going on a date tomorrow. Or... I guess today."

"A date-date or a 'I don't know if this is a date' date?"

"Date-date. We used the word and everything." Emily was bouncing on her heels and Hanna had to stop herself from laughing.

"That's great, Em. We should double sometime. Me and Caleb and you guys."

Emily thought about that for a second, "I'll ask Paige, but she really likes Caleb, so I am sure that'll be fine."

"Is this seriously why you woke me up at 2 in the morning?" Hanna asked.

"I just really, really needed to tell someone. I'll fill you in on all the details soon," Emily made her way down the front steps towards her car.

"It was totally the outfit I picked out for you. You owe me one," Hanna shouted as Emily got into her car.

xxxxxxxxxxx

In the late morning, after her run, Paige took off her sweaty running clothes and stood in front of her full-length mirror. She turned so her large scar from her kidney transplant was in full view. She grimaced as her fingers traced over it. She seriously hated this unattractive line of elevated pink skin.

She used her full hand to try and cover it, but even if she went from palm to the tip of her middle finger... some of the scar was still sticking out at the end.

Paige huffed in exasperation and grabbed her towel to take a shower.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Well, well, well, look who it is," Hanna said as she spotted Paige walking into The Brew that afternoon.

"Oh, hey, Hanna... I was just picking up some coffee," Paige answered.

"Yeah, I need coffee too. Because of you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You kept Emily up til an ungodly hour, and then she called me after."

"Oh," Paige blushed. She wasn't sure what Emily had told her, and since Hanna was mostly Emily's friend, she didn't want to be the one to say anything first.

"I hear you're a great kisser," Hanna winked.

"Oh."

"Yeah 'oh'. You better not be screwing around with Emily."

Paige was taken aback, almost shocked by the accusation. "Whoa, whoa... what?"

"Emily's been through a lot this year. Her dad was killed a few months ago, and of course Maya was a bitch and her mom's been super depressed about her dad. So, just don't screw her around."

"Hanna, I appreciate you being a good friend and looking out for Emily," Paige bit her lip, searching for the right words. She looked Hanna right in the eyes when she found them. "I would never treat her anything less than perfect. All I can do is say those words and hope that you'll believe that I'll try my hardest to make her feel that."

"Aw, Paige you old softie. I knew I could believe you."

"You know the day you and I first met over there," Paige asked, gesturing to the table they first talked. "You called me out and asked who I was hiding from. You joked about it. But I was really hiding from Emily. I thought she was just... well, really pretty and out of my league. And I looked disgusting and - like I was leaving a puddle- as you so delicately put. So I was hiding from her."

"Awww, that's the cutest story. I am telling it at your wedding. I was totally the matchmaker, and you can't tell me otherwise."

Paige rolled her eyes a little.

"So, when are you going to tell her about your... thing," Hanna asked, gesturing towards Paige's side that had the giant scar.

"I don't know, Hanna. I really wish I didn't have to."

"Why? Emily loves honesty. She will like that you just tell her the truth. Then you won't have to worry about making up excuses if you have to go to the doctor again."

"It's always so awkward when people find out. They look at me differently and pity me, and it's... it's not something I want to see from Emily."

"Paige, tell her. Seriously. She told you about her dad. You think people don't pity her for that?"

"Yeah..."

"When are you seeing her next?"

"I was just going to get us some coffees and head over to her house now. I think we were just going to watch a movie."

Hanna let out a chuckle. "Ok, well, that's just code for 'make out with the TV on'. Maybe just tell her right at the beginning and get it over with?"

"I'll think about it," Paige agreed as she walked to the counter to order the drinks.

And she did think about it, the whole way out of The Brew and the whole way to Emily's. She agreed with Hanna that Emily should know. But it was so hard to slip it into conversation naturally.

Paige exhaled a long breath before she knocked on Emily's front door.

Emily answered almost instantly, with a huge smile on her face.

Paige held out a hand with her cup of coffee. "Coffee for keeping you up so late?"

Emily's smile got wider as she accepted the drink, savoring the first sip. "Thank you, thank you."

Paige nervously leaned in for a kiss, and was relieved when Emily met her halfway.

"Hey, I missed you," Emily said, giving Paige a sort of half hug, with one hand holding the coffee.

"Come in, come in," Emily said, opening the front door.

"You can go up to my room. My mom will be home in a few hours, but she won't interrupt us."

Emily led the way, with Paige trailing nervously behind her. Emily pushed the door open and fell onto her bed, while playing with the remote to turn the TV on.

Emily cocked her head in confusion when she noticed Paige was still leaning in the door jam.

"You coming in?" Emily asked with a half-smile on her face.

"Yeah," Paige said taking a step forward and shutting the door. "I need to talk to you about something."


	9. Chapter 8 - Calm Before The Storm

A/N: Thanks to all of you for your patience. I am nearing the end of some life-stuff here. So updates should hopefully be more plentiful and frequent as we near the end of this story.

"They say it's calmest before the storm. It isn't calm before the storm. Stuff happens."

A couple years ago...

"So I had a great time," Maya said, with a sweet smile at Emily's doorstep.

"Yeah, yeah... me too," Emily agreed, taking a step back, where Maya had taken one forward toward her.

"You think you'd want to go out again?"

Emily smiled with her lips closed and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I should get in though. My parents will wonder where I am."

"Okay, well," Maya stepped in and gave Emily a stiff hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you Monday at school then. I had a great time... well... bye." She gave a weak wave as she walked off towards her house.

Emily watched her go and blew out a drawn breath. As soon as Maya was out of sight, Emily made her way to a nearby park in hopes of clearing her mind.

"Mom, seriously, you don't need to stay in here the whole time," Paige fidgeted on her bed as her peritoneal dialysis machine whirred next to her. "I'm almost done, then I am going to sleep."

Nicole sat up in the chair next to Paige's bed, pulling a blanket up. "I'm fine, honey. I just want to be here if anything goes wrong."

Paige opened her mouth to protest, but the words died before they left her tongue. Paige recently had a scare with a drastic drop in blood pressure. Now, the small amounts of freedom her mom had previously afforded her were gone.

Emily sat in the empty park, swaying weakly on a swing, more lost in her thoughts than interested in enjoying the swing. She had come out to her friends and her parents. She risked friendships and family to be who she really was... and whatever she was hoping to feel when she went out on her first date with a girl wasn't there.

She found Maya physically attractive. She was sure she liked girls. She was sure she liked Maya. But whatever earth-moving thing she was sure she was supposed to feel... just wasn't there.

Emily sighed and looked up to night sky, hoping to figure out who she was. She poked around the woodchips on the ground with the toe of her shoe and leaned her head on the swing.

What if she wasn't gay and it was just a phase? What if she told everyone she was gay and now they think she was just doing it for attention? Emily pumped her legs and swung higher and higher and higher until she felt like she was almost level with the swing set's cross bar.

Paige put her book face down on the nightstand and wrapped up the evening's dialysis session. Her mom looked comfortably asleep in the chair in the corner of the room. Paige quietly got out of bed, grabbed a pair of shoes, walked out of her room and gently shut the door behind her. She needed to get out of the house.

Emily was getting some serious air on the swing. Like the kind of air that would have made schoolyard kids go "ohhh" and "ahhh" about.

"Ok, Fields. Stick the landing and you're really gay and your dream girl will materialize in this very park."

Emily hyped herself up to jump off the swing and when she swung forward and reached the maximum height, she let go and savored the fraction of a second in zero gravity. She landed with both feet on the ground, knees bent.

"Yes!" she said to herself. "Definitely gay," she said looking around. "But no dream girl." Emily shrugged and checked the time on her phone. When she realized how late it was, she made her way home.

The swing was still swaying when Paige walked up and grabbed the seat. "Hello?" She asked outloud, looking around to see if anyone was still in the park. Without thinking much about it, she sat down and started kicking her legs to get some height. Paige enjoyed the fresh air and the darkness and the sounds of no medical equipment. She knew she could only be out of the house for a few minutes, so she savored it. For some reason, she felt more at peace than she thought she would.

Present Day...

Paige clicked Emily's bedroom door shut. "I need to talk to you about something."

Emily perked up a little at Paige's tone, motioning for Paige to join her on the bed. Paige gently sat down and kept her gaze down, not wanting to look Emily in the eyes just yet.

"What is it?" Emily asked, her voice expressing her concern.

"Nothing, really. I just want to be honest with you about some stuff," Paige responded with a smile. Paige opened her mouth to start talking, but couldn't find the words. "Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought."

Emily reached over and put her hands on top of Paige's, hoping to calm her down.

"Ok, um.. do you remember how I told you my dad was sick and died a few years ago?"

Emily nodded, trying to piece together what Paige was going to say ahead of time.

"Well, he had chronic kidney disease, which I also have. I am doing okay now, but it's a big part of my life and I just didn't want to be dishonest with you about that."

Emily barely let Paige finished before she enveloped her in a tight hug. "Thank you for telling me that. I know that must have been really hard."

Paige smiled and hugged Emily back.

Emily broke away and continued to hold onto Paige's hands, looking at them and playing with Paige's fingers. "Would it be ok if I ask home dumb questions? I don't know very much about health stuff. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"You can ask me whatever you want," Paige gave Emily a small smile and nudged her a little.

"It's just... well, you said you were okay 'now'."

"Yes."

"Well, that leads me to believe there was a time when you weren't."

Paige shrugged slightly. "I was pretty sick for a few years, but that's all in the past. I got a donation and..."

"A donation? Like a kidney donation?"

"Yes, it helped so much. I mean, there are some complications but compared to before the transplant it's like, nothing."

Emily listened and had to stop herself from hugging Paige a second time. She just wanted to be physically close to her, wanted to be wrapped up by her and wanted to wrap her up. She felt that before, but even moreso knowing she could have lost her before she even knew her. Emily got chills at the thought.

She stared at Paige in the eyes for a few seconds after she finished talking, and before she could stop herself, she said, "I want to know everything about you."

"Paige Marie McCullers, 17, aries, likes cheesy old movies and long walks on the beach..."

Emily let out a small laugh and pushed Paige lightly. "You won't find a lot of beaches in central Pennsylvania."

"You're right about that."

"I, um... one day, I'd like to talk to you about when you were sick and how you got through it. But, to be completely honest, I don't think I could stand to hear you talk about it right now. Just hearing you say what you said... it scared me more than I can describe... I just, I got chills just thinking about it."

Paige put her arm around Emily's shoulder and hugged her to her side. "I'm happy to talk whenever you'd like. But I understand you not wanting to hear about it. I'd be the same way if it were you. And, you know, I'd really like to hear more about your dad. I know he must be hard for you to talk about. But he was important to you. So if you ever want to talk about it, I'd like to hear."

Emily tilted her head up for a light kiss and smiled. "Thanks, Paige. But today, I would prefer to marathon watch some tv show or movies and not think about anything for a while."

"That works too," Paige smiled.

Emily flipped on the TV, choosing the Food Network without much of a second thought.

Paige snickered a little under her breath. "What's so funny?" Emily asked, looking at Paige from the corner of her eye.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of something Hanna said before I came here. I told her I was coming over to watch a movie and she said that was just code for making out with the TV on."

"Ughh," Emily sighed.

"What?" Paige's eyebrow raised slightly.

"I just hate when Hanna's right," Emily gave Paige a smile as she turned towards her.

xxxxxxxx

"This is the most bored any person has ever been since the beginning of time. I am experiencing that level of boredom," Paige's science lab partner, Carmen, muttered as Paige examined slides in their microscope.

"Well, thanks."

"YOU aren't boring, science is boring."

Paige laughed a little and jotted down the stage of the cell cycle in her notebook.

"I think it's anaphase, but it might be metaphase. You look."

"Oh my god, Paige, do you not hear how boring of a sentence that is?"

"Boring or not, we have 20 of these slides to get through before the end of class and I just want to finish."

Carmen rolled her eyes and looked in the microscope. "It's anaphase."

"Thanks," Paige mumbled as she changed out the slide.

"Hey, are you doing anything after school?"

Paige shrugged, "I don't know. Why?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to work on the assignment together. Maybe get some food?"

Paige considered the offer and thought for a second. "Could I ask my friend Emily to come too?"

Carmen dropped her stare and shrugged, a little irritated. "Sure, I guess."

"Cool, I'll let you know before last period. I think this one is prophase."

"Fantastic," Carmen mumbled.

As class ended, Paige got her things together quickly and made her way across the hall to Emily's classroom. She managed to get there just as Emily was making her way out.

"Hey," Paige grinned, grabbing Emily's textbook from the other girl's hands. "Where's your next class?"

Emily blushed slightly at Paige's simple kind gesture. "Two halls down. You don't have to walk me if it's out of your way."

Paige waved it off, following Emily in the direction of her class. "A friend from class asked if I wanted to get food after school and I said I'd ask if you wanted to go. We'll probably do a little homework, if you have some you want to get done."

Emily nodded. "Yeah, absolutely. That sounds great. We can talk more about it at lunch?"

"Sure," Paige agreed and stopped awkwardly in front of Emily's classroom. Unsure of how to leave, Paige gave Emily a tight hug. Emily gripped onto the bottom of Paige's t-shirt, even after they separated. Emily briefly wondered if it would be too forward to suggest skipping class to makeout in a bathroom.

"Your book," Paige handed the thick textbook back over to Emily. "I guess I'll see you in a little bit."

"Yeah, see you!" Emily waved, and then immediately regretted waving. Who waves? What an absolute dork. No one waves. But then Paige offered a small wave back and that's when Emily was sure she was in love. Well, maybe not love, but something really close to it. Because when you do something that makes you feel like a complete dork and someone you really like does the exact same thing, it's hard not to fall in love.

Emily considered all of this later as she made her way to gym class. Hanna was in that class with her, and she wanted to get her best friend's take on everything going on in her head.

After the two of them were changed and tasked with "playing volleyball" - which just meant standing on a volleyball court, or walking around the track, Emily took Hanna aside.

"Do you think it's weird to be in love with someone when you've only known them for a little while?"

Hanna quit picking at her cuticles and looked up at Emily. "Are you asking for any specific reason, or are you just making super serious, random conversation?"

"It's Paige. It's weird. I mean, I really like her. And she's kind of perfect. And so pretty. And she plays music. And she smells really good. And she's always warm somehow. Like every time I hug her, she's warm. And she played guitar over the weekend and her hands were just like so - ok, that's besides the point, Hanna. She's just.. everything about her is perfect. And today she walked me to class and I waved goodbye and I felt like an idiot, because who waves? And then she waved too. And... her hands were really sexy and her hips. Stop asking me about her hands, Hanna!"

"Jesus, Emily, exhale. You're just sucking in oxygen at this point and I am not sure you're even making sense."

"So, we're dating."

"I know."

"And she told me about how she was sick... before. I know you know."

Hanna nodded slowly, unsure how much Emily knew, and not wanting to tip her hand.

"And it just made me like her even more. Everything I learn about her makes me want to learn more. And I've been away from her for like 90 minutes today and all I can think about is how my cell phone is in my gym locker and I wonder if she texted me."

"Wow," Hanna said slowly.

"Yeah, so you see my problem."

"I don't see a problem."

"You don't?"

"Pft. So you love someone? I say good for you. It may have taken you by surprise, but who cares? Enjoy it."

"Do you think I should tell Paige?"

"I'd maybe wait? You know, until you've known her for more weeks than you can count on two hands. But that's just me."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Paige, hey!" Carmen called Paige and Emily over to a booth she had saved for them after school. They were in a nearby pizza shop that was popular at their high school.

"Hey Carmen, this is Emily. Emily, this is Carmen, my lab partner," Paige introduced.

Emily greeted her with a genuine smile, and was met with a tight-lipped nod from the other girl. Carmen scooted over in her booth to make room for Paige, but she chose to sit on Emily's side.

"So, you guys were going to study?" Emily asked, hoping to ease some of the tension she felt coming from Carmen. "I have some homework to do too, so I'll just read that while you guys work. I don't want to disturb."

Paige shot Emily a subtle smile and moved her hand on top of Emily's. Both were resting their hands on the booth, out of sight from anyone else.

Emily knew that one little action would make it impossible for her to focus on anything else for the next hour. Paige's hands were... just perfect. Soft and slender and they fit like a missing puzzle piece into her own. Emily was lost in a world of metaphors about linking hands and wasn't paying too much attention to her homework, or to Paige and Carmen's conversation.

She was brought back to her senses when the pizza arrived for the table and Paige removed her hand to grab a slice for both of them. Emily immediately missed the contact and likened it to being unplugged from a generator. Like someone flipped off the lights. To get some of the contact back, she put her hand on Paige's leg.

Emily took a bite of her pizza and thought how pitiful she must seem. She honestly hated not touching Paige for even just a second. She missed it. She wanted that contact back instantly. Just when she thought Paige must think Emily was being obsessive and overwhelming, Paige grabbed Emily's hand and gave it a little squeeze.

Emily tried to focus on her history text book, but she ended up re-reading the same sentence about 40 times as she felt Paige's thumb drawing little circles on her hand.

She spent a second looking over at Paige and couldn't help but smile again.

She was so beautiful. Just the most beautiful person she had ever seen.

Emily was roused from her thoughts when she heard Carmen suggest she and Paige get together over the weekend. While Emily and Paige didn't have plans, Emily assumed they'd get together at some point. And more than that, she didn't like the idea of Paige hanging out with some other pretty girl without her. That was stupid, Emily knew. Paige liked her, and she trusted Paige, and Paige could hang out with who ever she wanted. But still, it didn't sit right.

Paige looked over from Carmen to Emily, back to Carmen. "Um, maybe? I'm not sure if Emily and I have plans yet."

"Oh?" Carmen looked expectantly at Emily, like she was somehow responsible for answering.

"I mean, I can do Saturday or Sunday. I can make plans around whatever you guys want to do," Emily answered, wondering if Paige could read her real thoughts.

Paige gently squeezed Emily's hand and shrugged at Carmen. "Maybe we can just do another study session after school some time next week?"

"Sure, yeah, that works too. Ok, well, I have to get home," Carmen announced, tossing some cash on the table and heading out.

Emily crinkled her nose slightly as she watched the other girl leave.

"What?" Paige asked.

"She likes you," Emily said as if it were obvious.

"Carmen?" Paige asked, genuinely unaware.

"Um, yes. Her."

"Oh. I don't think so."

"Paige, it's fine. I'm not mad or anything. It's cute. I mean, you ARE likeable. I speak from experience."

"I mean, we're just lab partners. I don't think she sees me like that."

"I kind of felt like she thought this was a date. Did she ask you to come out?"

"She suggested it, but I thought it was just a study thing. I won't hang out with her again if it makes you uncomfortable."

Emily laughed a little and gave Paige a quick kiss on the cheek, something she had been dying to do all day. "You can hang out with who ever you want."

"Well, I think Carmen is a fine person, but I don't want to see her if that's her train of thought. Because well..."

"Well?" Emily asked with en eyebrow raised.

"I'm kinda taken," Paige said, poking Emily in the stomach playfully for emphasis. "And random people from school are just fine if they want to hang out or study, but I don't want to be around people who expect more than that."

"You really didn't pick up on the fact that she likes you?" Emily asked, trying and failing to surpress her grin.

"I still don't believe that YOU like me," Paige admitted earnestly.

"Well, believe it," Emily emphasized her point with a sweet kiss. As she closed her eyes to deepen it, one thought trickled in her mind, 'Definitely Love'.


	10. Chapter 9 - Naps, Purses & Verdicts

**A/N - Still just passing time until Locum Tenens. Man, that story completes me. **

"Hey," Paige greeted Emily shyly as she opened the door to her house. It was one of the few times in the last few years Paige's mom left her at home alone, and she didn't want to waste the opportunity to be alone with Emily.

"Hi," Emily shared her shy smile and walked into the home when Paige opened the door a little wider.

Emily loved that even though she and Paige talked nearly every day for months, she was still shy around the other girl. Paige still made her nervous and anxious, in a really, really good way.

"I'm really happy you could come out tonight. You sure the girls didn't give you a hard time?"

Emily's friends had given her a bit of a hard time, but they knew she wanted to spend more alone time with Paige, so it wasn't too bad.

"It's fine. I'll have lunch with them tomorrow. They'll be okay."

Paige let her smile grow, a little relieved Emily's friends wouldn't be upset with her. She wanted to make them happy as much as she wanted to make Emily happy. She knew Emily's friends were basically family to her, and she wanted to be on their good side.

"Good, good," Paige leaned in slightly and gave Emily a light kiss. Emily marveled that something so chaste as a hello kiss could make her stomach flip. She had it bad. And she didn't mind much.

"You look really pretty today," Paige whispered in Emily's hair as she gave her a hug. Emily nearly chewed through her lip to suppress a moan. It was never the words Paige said that made her feel so much, but the way Paige said them. Her tone. Her voice. Just Paige.

Instead of saying anything else, Emily just hugged Paige tighter, and hoped that conveyed her message.

"So, I have juice or water or tea," Paige said as they pulled apart, motioning to the kitchen. "Thirsty?"

Emily gripped Paige's hand as they walked to the kitchen and shrugged. "Water is fine."

"Can I borrow this for one second? I'll give it back before you know it," Paige said, lifting her hand that was joined with Emily's.

Emily huffed. "I don't want water that bad," she pouted.

"Fine, I can attempt this with one hand, but there is glass involved and it could get ugly."

Emily rolled her eyes with a smile and let go begrudgingly.

Paige quickly grabbed two cups and filled them with the Brita filter in the fridge. She handed one cup to Emily and grabbed her other hand.

"See? Fast."

"You're so cute," Emily said, going in for a quick kiss.

Paige shrugged. "If you think me getting water is cute, just watch me make popcorn. You'll fall in love with me," Paige joked.

Emily gave a half-smile and gripped Paige's hand. She wanted to tell Paige that was basically already a done deal, but didn't know how to do it without scaring her off.

Instead they made their way up to Paige's room with a bowl of popcorn, some waters and some DVDs.

"Comedy, romance or drama?" Paige asked, sorting through the movies.

"Nothing that'll make me think too hard. I'm kind of tired."

Paige nodded in agreement. "We should just Netflix some Friends episodes."

"Yes, please. Season 3 or earlier."

Paige got her laptop set up to the TV as Emily got comfortable in bed. Once it started playing, Paige joined Emily under the covers.

She felt a surge of warmth wash over her as Emily curled up to her immediately. Every part of their body touching in some way. From their feet, to their arms, to their heads. Paige sighed, honestly believing there was never a time she was more content.

Once the first episode had ended and the countdown to the next one started, Emily cleared her throat. "Hanna keeps bringing up the idea of a double date with Caleb."

Paige stroked Emily's hair gently and nodded. "I have hospital stuff every Wednesday and Friday, and therapy Mondays. But we can do it over the weekend, maybe?"

"Really? You'd be okay with that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I like you, and I like Hanna. I've only hung out with Caleb a few times, but we get along. It'll be fun."

Emily grinned and turned her head to face Paige. "You are seriously the best."

Paige's expression went from smiley to serious when she took in Emily's closeness for the first time.

"Would it be okay if I kiss you?"

Emily nodded, arching an eyebrow, "Only if you promise to never ask again and just do it."

"They always ask in the movies."

"Well, this is real life and I just want you to kiss me."

Paige smiled again, inching in closer to Emily, so they were nearly touching. "Noted."

Paige finally leaned in and moved slightly, so she was hovering above Emily. It was an adjustment Emily clearly enjoyed, because she turned up the intensity of the kiss.

Paige used one forearm to balance herself on the bed, and the other hand caressed Emily's hair and face. Paige's favorite part about Emily, physically, was her face and the way her long hair framed it. She always looked so perfect and Paige savored the opportunity to touch both.

In the few times they had made out heavily, Paige noticed how Emily's hands almost always went to her hips. She had meant to ask about this, but was always too shy.

If she would have asked, Emily would have told her that Paige's hips were easily the sexiest thing she had ever seen. Running had clearly done Paige well, as her hips were well defined and narrow in a way that pants looked great on her. Emily was pretty much obsessed.

After kicking the covers nearly fully off the bed, Emily managed to shift herself totally under Paige. She wrapped her legs around Paige's hips to help pull them closer together.

Paige moved herself as best she could to accommodate what Emily was asking of her. While she loved kissing Emily's lips, she found it easy to break contact if it meant kissing lower on Emily's neck.

Paige kissed along Emily's jaw, up to her ear, where she spent some time playing with her earlobe, then moved down her neck. Paige loved the smell of Emily, and it smelled so perfect right at her neck. Like clean and citrus and lovely. She kissed and licked along Emily's clavicle. Emily's mind went blank with how good it felt. Not even just physically good, that too, but she felt safe and trusting towards Paige.

As much as she wanted to watch Paige, she felt the strongest urge to close her eyes and just FEEL everything. And as soon as she did, she felt Paige suck slightly on her neck and sooth it over with her tongue.

Without her instruction, or warning, Emily's hips moved up, hoping to find some relief to the pressure building within her. Emily felt slightly embarrassed, and hoped Paige didn't notice. Paige didn't break her stride on her neck, which she took as a good sign. But then Paige's right hand wandered down to Emily's hip. She gripped one of Emily's belt loops on her jeans and pulled a little, arching her hips up again.

Emily didn't have to be told twice, and moved her hips up again, more forcefully. This time, Paige leaned her hips down at the same time and Emily's eyes shot open from the amazing feeling that washed over her.

"That 'kay?" Paige mumbled into her neck.

Emily didn't answer, just moved her hips up again and again, Paige meeting her every time. Emily had no idea she could feel so much, even with her jeans still on. She was so turned on, even the slightest pressure was noticed and felt like magic.

After a few minutes like that, Emily kept rocking her hips, but dragged Paige's head back up to her own so they could kiss properly.

Emily felt herself getting close but felt like she could hold off. That is until Paige slowly massaged her tongue with her own. It was like all the willpower to control her body went out the window, and she gripped the back of Paige's shirt with both fists, pulling the other girl down hard on top of her.

"I'm really close," Emily mumbled.

Paige kissed her deeper and ground her hips in Emily faster and stronger then before, never letting their lips break contact.

Emily's movements went from fluid to ragged and she started moaning Paige's name in between gasps of breath. Paige moved her head back so she come watch Emily come undone and was rewarded with one of the my beautiful sights she had ever seen. Paige thrust her hips a few more times into Emily, who still had her shirt in a vice grip.

"Fuck," Emily breathed out, her hands gliding lower to the top of Paige's butt.

Paige slowly rolled off Emily, still laying close to her on her side, her hand propping up her head.

"Sorry," Emily said blushing, digging her face into the pillow near Paige's head.

"Whoa, why are you sorry?" Paige asked, she swept some of Emily's hair out of her face so she could see her.

"Because I got carried away and I couldn't contain myself."

"You looked really beautiful, I'm not sorry that happened at all."

Emily hid her face deeper in the pillow but Paige moved her chin towards her with her finger. She moved in for a kiss, which Emily responded to immediately.

"You know how you said I don't have to ask to kiss you? Well, you don't have to ask to do THAT. Because it was easily the most beautiful I've seen you look. And I've seen you look really beautiful. So that's a tough list to be part of."

Emily sat up abruptly, and Paige joined her, both girls leaning against the headboard.

"Paige, can we talk?"

Paige bit her lip, wondering if she had said or done something wrong. "Sure."

"You know how we said we were just dating, and it was casual?"

Paige nodded, not ready to look at Emily just yet.

"Well, I'd really like it to be more than that."

Paige turned towards the other girl, relief filling her features. "You mean you want to be my... girlfriend?"

Emily nodded, grabbing Paige's hands. "I'd really like that. What about you?"

Paige thought for a second then shook her head. "I am trying to be more articulate, but the word 'Duh' is the only one coming to mind."

Emily grinned and moved her hand to cup Paige's face. "You're so pretty."

Paige rolled her eyes a little, but Emily gripped her face a little tighter. "I'm serious, Paige. You're beautiful."

"Then I am very thankful you haven't had your eyes checked in a while," Paige winked and moved in for a kiss, but Emily backed away.

"Are you serious or just joking around? You know you're really gorgeous, right?"

Paige shrugged. "No one but my mom has ever called me beautiful. It's just weird."

"Well, I'll make up for lose time. You're beautiful," Emily said looking her in the eyes and giving her peck on the lips. "Gorgeous," Another peck. "And really, really sexy," Emily moved in for another kiss, this one lingered a little longer.

Emily pulled herself away, a little begrudgingly. She didn't want to start something and get carried away again. Instead, she tucked herself under Paige's arm and laid her head on her chest. She felt Paige yawn above her.

"Tired?" Emily asked, her eyes feeling heavy herself.

Paige nodded, "Yeah. I was up late last night doing bio homework."

"Want to nap then get dinner?"

Paige grinned and hugged Emily a little tighter. "I like the way you think."

Emily turned on an episode of Friends in the background for some noise and Emily turned so her face was buried in Paige's neck. She never would have guessed this would be a comfortable position, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she had fallen asleep.

Emily woke up before Paige and watched her sleep for a few minutes. She couldn't help her wandering hand. Paige was sleeping on her side to accommodate Emily nestled into her. Emily's hand traveled down Paige's shoulder, down her side and rested on her favorite spot, Paige's hip.

Even though she knew she shouldn't, she toyed with the hem of Paige's shirt and ran her fingers up Paige's side. Her eyes closed as her fingers glided over the smooth, soft yet toned skin of Paige's abdomen. If there was any question Emily was gay, this moment just answered it. She was so turned on by just looking at and touching Paige, not even having Paige do anything to her.

Her fingers felt a strange ridge on Paige's stomach that she couldn't place.

Curious, she ran her finger tips over it, finding it to be long.

Paige shifted slightly in her sleep, causing her shirt to ride up – revealing the patch of skin her fingers were touching.

She audibly gasped when she saw the huge scar across Paige's side. Her fingers gently traced over it, and Emily felt some tears escaping down her cheeks. The emotion flooded over her too quickly for her to stop it.

She wanted so badly to talk to Paige more about her illness, but just thinking about it overwhelmed her with emotion. She wanted to be there for Paige during that time. And it broke her heart that Paige went through something so serious and scary alone.

Emily pulled Paige's shirt down and wrapped herself back in Paige's arms. Something that didn't take much effort, as it seemed Paige's unconscious body was waiting for her to come back.

Later – both girls were woken up by the bedroom door opening as Paige's mom entered the room.

"Mom?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you girls. I just wanted to tell you dinner will be ready in a few."

Emily went to move away from Paige at the sound of the woman's voice, but Paige kept her arm wrapped tight around her.

"Sure, thanks, mom. Um, this is Emily."

Emily finally got up from being embraced by Paige and went to shake the woman's hand.

"Great to meet you, Ms. McCullers."

The older woman offered a genuine smile and gave Emily a warm hug. "You too, sweetie. Hope you're staying for dinner."

Emily was taken aback by Paige's mom familiarness. She wasn't sure if Paige had mentioned their relationship to her mom, let alone her being gay. They hadn't really talked about that.

"Of course, yes, thanks for offering."

"Ok, you girls get cleaned up and I'll have everything done in ten minutes."

As Paige's mom left the room, Emily turned towards her GIRLFRIEND (she liked thinking that).

"Your mom is ok with us sleeping in the same bed?"

Paige shrugged and went up to her mirror to fix her hair, that had gotten in disarray from making out and napping.

"She's happy I'm happy. She's wanted to meet you since I started talking about you. And she trusts me."

"So she knows about... us?"

Paige turned towards Emily with a dorky smile. "Well, there's only really been an 'us' for about 2 hours. But she knows we are dating, yes. Should she not?"

Emily's face broke into a grin as she walked over to Paige. "You are amazing," she said. "Everything you do is right. How is that possible?"

"I guess you just bring out the best in me?" Paige asked.

Emily smile and gripped the sides of Paige's shirt and pulled her in for a long kiss before they headed down to dinner.

"I liked your hair better before. I could tell we had been making out."

Paige laughed and ran her hand unconsciously through her hair. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind on mornings I don't feel like brushing it."

Paige and Emily both sat down at the dining room table. Paige barely waited for them to sit down before she grabbed Emily's hand under the table, squeezing it every so often during conversation with her mom.

Paige excused herself to the bathroom and Emily used it to try and make small talk with Paige's mom to get to know her better.

"Thanks for asking me to stay for dinner, everything was delicious," Emily said genuinely, motioning to her empty plate. She had eaten everything.

"That's so nice of you, sweetie. You're welcome here anytime."

"It's great that you're okay with Paige dating me too. I know my mom had a tough time in the beginning with my coming out. But you don't seem phased at all."

Nicole thought about her answer, looking at the bathroom door where Paige had disappeared into.

"Almost losing Paige twice has given me a whole new understanding about what's really important. She can be a doctor, or a fast food worker. She can date a millionaire man or a homeless woman. As long as she is happy and healthy, that is all I care about."

Emily smiled then it faltered when she processed what Paige's mom had said.

"What do you mean you almost lost her?"

"With her illness. She was... she was very, very sick. Before the transplant, earlier this summer. God she looked..." the older woman choked on her words. "She looked like the ghost of herself," the woman wiped a stray tear fast, hoping Emily wouldn't see. "But she's so much healthier now, and that's all that matters."

Emily had to try her hardest to give the woman a small smile, but it was a chore. She felt like she had been sucker punched in the gut.

Paige emerged from the bathroom like nothing had happened, a big smile on her face.

"Dessert?" she asked.

"Already getting some ice cream," her mom said from the kitchen.

"It's a good night in the McCullers home when there's ice cream," Paige said to Emily.

Emily tried to smile again, but Paige knew instantly something was wrong. "What's up?" she asked softly.

Emily gave Paige a gentle kiss and smiled. "I just wish I had known you for longer."

The next day, at brunch with the girls, Emily could barely contain her glee as she joined the table.

"Someone's coffee kicked in already," Spencer said in reference to Emily's good mood.

"Yeah, you look like you took whatever Hanna takes," Aria added.

Emily shrugged and sat down.

"Paige and I are official," Emily's grin was huge and she didn't care.

Hanna clapped her hands in excitement. "Yes, that's great babe. But weren't you official like weeks ago?"

"Well we've been 'dating' but we just decided to label it last night."

"Did you do it yet?" Hanna asked, scanning the menu.

"You aren't big on subtlety are you?" Spencer asked.

"Subtlety is a waste of everyone's time," Hanna said honestly.

Emily's grin didn't subside and Hanna took this as an answer. "They totally did it, look at her face."

"Let's just say I am not complaining at the progress we are making."

"They did it," Aria said to Hanna.

"Totally did it," Hanna agreed.

As their meal was wrapping up, the four teens were getting their stuff together when Emily accidentally knocked her full mug of coffee onto Hanna's purse.

"Shit, Han, I am so sorry!"

Hanna scoffed trying to dry off her wallet and phone. "This was payback for saying you and Paige did it, huh?" Emily knew her friend well enough to know she was joking, but she still felt bad.

After most of her stuff was dry, it was clear the bag itself was totaled. Stained and dripping, there was no saving it.

"I really need a purse today. Caleb and I are going to the movies and we like to sneak in snacks."

Emily's guilt got the better of her.

"Here, take mine," she replied, taking out her essentials, like her wallet and make up bag. "It's huge, you can fit at least 3 boxes of candy and two sodas."

Hanna took the bag and shoved her stuff inside. "Thanks, Em, you're the best."

At that exact moment, at a nearby courthouse, a jury was finished deliberating in the death of Officer Wayne Fields. They had reached their verdict.


	11. Chapter 10- Unnerved by this Realization

"_We the jury find the defendant NOT GUILTY..."_

The front door opening and slamming shut caused Emily to look up from her text book.

Silence filled the house moments later.

Emily felt goosebumps start along her spine and then crawl out to her her arms and fingertips.

Something was wrong.

She slowly closed her book and placed it on her bed, and went downstairs to see what was frustrating her mother.

The brunette tiptoed through the house, finally spotting her mom leaning over the kitchen sink – her shoulders shaking in sobs.

"Mom! Mom? What? What is it?" Emily ran over to comfort her mother, but the woman was inconsolable.

"He's free," she choked. "The man who murdered your father in cold blood. He's free. He's been acquitted."

Emily felt like the world was dropping out from underneath her feet. Her father's murder had attracted a lot of media attention and when the trial started, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Wayne Fields' killer would be locked up with the key thrown down a sewer drain.

She didn't even bother focusing on the trial. The lawyers insisted it was open and shut.

"How?" was the only question Emily could think to ask.

* * *

Paige felt like she could taste blood in her mouth from the amount she had been biting her tongue. Hanna had insisted - the only way Hanna did business was insisting – she had insisted that the two of them go on a shopping trip.

Paige couldn't remember the last time she went shopping for clothes.

She'd sometimes need something like a new hoodie or a new sports bra. But, that was a mission to the store, and there was never shopping around. It was buy what you need, and leave. But there was nothing she knew she needed for this excursion. Hanna just wanted to "shop".

"We're going to pretty you up for the double date," was how Hanna phrased it.

Paige bit her tongue, because despite her hatred for SHOPPING, she did like Hanna's company. Since she and Emily had started dating, Paige didn't have a lot of time to spend with her blonde friend, and she felt bad about it.

So she said yes to the shopping trip.

And she said yes when Hanna insisted on picking the music for the car ride there.

And she said yes when Hanna piled clothes in Paige's arms, tapping a snapback on her head and pushed her gently towards the changing rooms.

Hanna knew Paige disliked trying on clothes and shopping. But Paige almost had no clothes that fit her. Maybe a few pairs of jeans and a handful of shirts. When Paige was ill, she spent most days in oversized pajamas. Since recovering, her wardrobe hadn't magically grown. All of her clothes were baggy, and at least 3 years old.

Hanna sat in a chair outside the changing rooms, idly looking through the discarded clothes that hadn't been filed away. As she waited for Paige to change into the first outfit, she shouted to Paige. "If we were in a movie, this would be the make over montage scene. We'd get some incredible song to play in the background while you showed off every outfit."

Inside the changing room, Paige fiddled with a particularly difficult tank top (WHY ARE THERE SO MANY RANDOM STRAPS?! Paige screamed in her head) and finally got it on. She tried on the skinny, drop-crotch pants and felt like she looked like a total dork. She opened the door and shrugged.

Hanna almost laughed – the outfit looked fine. Good, even. But Paige's expression was like a puppy who had just gotten punished.

"Please don't make me wear these weird pants," Paige pouted.

"Aw, but they look cute as hell on you."

Paige sighed and scuffed her shoe on the carpet, feeling awkward in 'trendy' clothes. It was only Hanna's insistence that she'd pick clothes for Paige that Emily would like that kept her going. She could endure shopping if it meant Emily would like her clothes.

"What about the tank top?" Hanna asked.

Paige shrugged and sighed. "I guess it looks OK but it took me forever to try on. There's like random strap things and that I got tangled in."

Hanna snorted back a laugh, loving that Paige had no problem admitting her battle with a tank top.

"Try on the next one – the button down. It's a little more straight forward."

Paige headed back in, playing dress up for Hanna's amusement. She tried on a few more. Hanna had insisted on some items - "You are getting the snapback. And the plaid button down – the blue one" - but Paige was able to put her foot down on some of the more troubling ones - "I don't want to get the weird pants, but I'll get the kind that have the cuff at the ankles".

Finally, Paige got to sit back with her new purchases and watch Hanna try on some dresses. Paige didn't really know much, fashion-wise but she tried to be as honest as Hanna had been with her.

* * *

Hanna parked the car in the lot outside of Sketch Burger as she and Paige sank into their lunch. Burgers and milkshakes. Hanna's suggestion.

"Your goal is to get me to spend all of my money on new clothes, and then fatten me up so I can't fit into them?"

"Take a bite of that burger and tell me I was wrong for suggesting this place. Best burgers in Philly."

Paige did as she was told and nodded in agreement. "Yes, definitely skyrocketed to the top of the list."

"Caleb told me he loves these burgers more than me. And I told him that's probably the right choice."

Paige laughed into her milkshake and nodded. "The milkshake is good too."

Hanna agreed and immediately took a big gulp of the milkshake.

"I wonder how the burger would feel if Caleb cheated with the milkshake," Paige thought out loud.

Hanna laughed and coughed and blew milkshake out of her nose, all over her steering wheel – causing Paige to crack up, gripping her side in laughter.

"You just blew milkshake through your nose! I didn't think that happened after 3rd grade!"

Hanna was still coughing and slightly crying from laughing and having the shake fly through her nose.

"Don't be a jerk, get me a napkin," Hanna said, wiping the tears from her eyes as Paige bit back laughter.

Paige dug through the bag their food came in, "There's none in here."

"Check my purse," Hanna suggested, wiping the steering wheel with her hand.

Paige grabbed her friend's purse from the floor by her feet and dug through it. She grabbed a few pieces of paper and handed them to Hanna, and continued to dig – finally finding a couple of napkins.

Hanna looked at the paper and handed them back.

Paige looked at the paper in her hands, still holding back snickers of laughter. Something familiar about one of the pieces of paper grabbed her attention.

She looked at Hanna through the corner of her eye as she unfolded the piece of paper.

She immediately recognized her own handwriting, the ink partially faded.

"_I don't know who I am writing to, but I want to say I am so sorry for your loss.."_

Paige looked at the letter with her mouth open in shock. The moment of levity from seconds ago feels like a lifetime ago.

"Hanna," Paige said, her heart heavy, bile rising in her throat. Her mind racing, trying to figure out who had passed away in Hanna's life. Why Hanna had gotten this letter.

Hanna was still busy cleaning up, and chuckling to herself that she didn't register Paige's call.

"Hanna," Paige said again, more urgency and fear in her voice. It was that tone of fear that perked Hanna's interest. The smile that was on her face faded when she heard it.

"Why do you have this?" Paige asked, holding the letter.

Hanna looked between Paige and the piece of paper, confusion on her face.

"Have what? I don't know what that is."

"Who.. um," Paige felt the bile rise again, and swallowed it down. "Who.. died?" Paige winced. She had no idea how to word that question.

"Who died?" Hanna parroted, complete confusion drawn on her face.

"I wrote this," Paige confessed in an exhale, her eyes closed, terrified to see the expression in Hanna's eyes.

"Paige, is that like – a love letter to Emily? I promise I didn't read it."

It was now Paige's turn to look confused. Why had Hanna brought Paige into this?

"It's.. what? What does Emily have to do with this?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "That's Em's purse, dork. I just borrowed her's cause she ruined mine with her coffee. It's basically just my wallet and lipstick and nail polish that's in there now. Whatever else is her's. Unless it's cash. Then that's mine too," Hanna tried to smirk to lighten what felt like a serious mood, but Paige's jaw just tightened more.

"This is Emily's letter?"

Hanna searched Paige's eyes for clues about what was happening, but found none. So she just nodded.

The blond watched as the color drained from Paige's face and the brunette threw her car door open and vomited onto the parking lot outside.

Hanna froze momentarily, shocked by what she just witnessed. She grabbed Paige's hair out of the way and soothed her back.

"Paige, are you alright? Should I call 911?"

Paige wretched again, and Hanna cringed at the feeling of Paige's ribs and spine rising under palm as the other girl got sick.

Paige shook her head finally, choking back sobs. "I'm fine."

"What is it? What's that letter?"

Paige glanced back over it and felt the bile burn her throat again. "I think I have Emily's dad's kidney."

* * *

"I think it's oddly romantic, Paige. You're scared. But I think Emily will see the romance," Hanna tried to sooth Paige's nerves as the girls waited inside the Grille for Emily and Caleb to show up.

Paige hadn't pieced more than three words together since making her confession to Hanna. The face looked ghostly white and a continuous look of fear was written over her features. She couldn't express the fear she felt at the prospect of telling Emily what she knew, but she knew she couldn't and wouldn't keep it a secret.

Paige just nodded in a vague acknowledgment that Hanna had said something.

"Here she comes," Hanna announced, motioning towards the door.

"Have a little faith in your girl, yeah? She won't let you down," Hanna smiled, with a nudge to Paige's shoulder. The pale girl just swayed weightlessly under Hanna's nudge.

"I'm going to give you guys some space. I'll be upstairs waiting for Caleb. It'll be fine, Paige. Emily really likes you."

Once again, Paige nodded. Her eyes fixed on Emily's face. Hanna sent a wave to Emily as she headed upstairs to observe the two from the second floor.

Unlike normal, Emily's eyes didn't brighten and her face didn't break into a smile when she saw Paige. If Paige had been in her right mind, she would have registered the oddness in Emily's personality. But she could barely breathe and focus on the words she was going to say. It was all too much. The only thing that gave Paige courage was Hanna's advise to have faith in Emily. She did. She had all of her faith in Emily. And she knew she always would.

Emily sat down next to Paige.

* * *

Hanna watched the two from up high. She was too far to hear them, but she could read their body language clearly. She felt encouraged when she saw Emily reach over and grab Paige's hands. Hanna's phone buzzed in her pocket and she reluctantly looked away from Paige and Emily and down at her phone.

New iMessage from Caleb: Sorry. Running late. Is Emily Ok? I just heard.

Hanna furrowed her brow. Caleb didn't know about Paige's letter, as far as she knew.

New iMessage to Caleb: What are you talking about?

"Hey," Paige smiled, her breath heavy in her chest. "I have something to tell you."

Emily felt a sad smile wash over her face. "I have something to tell you too."

Paige gulped, her hands sweating and shaking like crazy. "Would it be ok if I go first. I need to say this before I lose my nerve."

Emily finally noticed her girlfriend's pale complexion, the sweat beading on her forehead, and her hands shaking gently in her lap.

Emily finally reached out to calm Paige's hands. "Of course, go ahead."

* * *

Hanna waited impatiently for Caleb to reply to her. It seemed like the typing-bubbles had appeared at the bottom of the screen for hours. She let her attention shift back down to Paige and Emily. She watched Paige reach into her back pocket and pull out the letter she had found in the purse. Her phone vibrated again in her hand, pulling her attention back to the device.

New iMessage from Caleb: Just heard about her dad's trial. Her killer totally got out scott free. Saw it on my Facebook feed. Everyone's super pissed. But apparently he had some B.S. Alibi.

* * *

Paige pulled Emily's hands to her mouth and kissed them, before letting go and reaching into her back pocket. She pulled out the folded, worn white sheet of paper.

She played with it in her fingers for a few seconds before looking up to meet Emily's eyes. Emily had patience in them, which just encouraged Paige more. She knew there was nothing to be scared of. She was just afraid of hurting Emily. She never wanted to hurt her.

* * *

Hanna felt her stomach clench as she read Caleb's text. She felt horrible for Emily, and knew this would just destroy her friend. A few seconds passed, and Hanna remembered what was happening downstairs. No way Paige should tell Emily her news right now.

* * *

Paige unfolded the piece of paper in her hands and took a deep, shaking breath.

She met Emily's eyes.

"I," she started, but her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I um. I found this when I was with Hanna. She said it was yours."

Paige handed Emily the letter, and watched as Emily's eyes looked down at the piece of paper. Her face registered that she knew what it was. Paige had held out just an iota of hope that maybe it wasn't Emily's. But that expression on her girlfriend's face confirmed she knew it.

"I wrote that," Paige admitted, her voice clear and only a decibel above a whisper. But Emily heard her.

Emily's head shot up, meeting Paige's eyes. She was looking for any trace of this being a joke. She hoped that Paige was making an awful joke. But she knew she wasn't.

Paige closed her eyes at Emily's silence and opened them slowly.

"It was your dad's, wasn't it?" Paige knew she didn't have to explain herself, Emily knew what she was asking.

Emily wiped the falling tears with her thumb as she re-read the letter. She nodded without looking at Paige.

"I don't know what to say," Paige simply said. "But I couldn't not tell you."

Paige reached out for Emily's arm to try and comfort her, but Emily pulled away. It wasn't malicious, but Paige felt as though Emily had slapped her across the face.

"Em?" Paige whispered, hoping for some kind of reaction.

Emily folded the letter back up and stood up, shoving it in the pocket of her jeans.

"I need to go. I uh.. I need some time. Some space," Emily backed away from the table, her voice completely distracted as her mind raced a million miles an hour. "I'll call you," Emily said in a tone that didn't sound at all genuine.

Emily wouldn't let her gaze meet Paige, because she knew if she did, she'd get swept up in her love for the other girl. Emily couldn't process all of this new information – she felt like she was overwhelmed with whiplash. Every part of her life that felt stable 5 hours ago suddenly shifted under head feet.

Hanna made her way down the staircase just as Emily nearly sprinted from the restaurant. She was torn – to follow Emily, or stay with Paige. But one look at the broken expression on Paige's face told Hanna all she needed to know.

"Paige, I'm so sorry."

Paige slumped over onto the table, her forehead laying on top of her forearm.

"She hates me," came Paige's muffled reply.

Hanna pulled at Paige's shoulder to get the other girl to face her, "She doesn't hate you..." she started but stopped when she saw the look on Paige's face.

It wasn't sadness.

Or fear.

Or shock.

It was pain.

"Paige! Paige, what's wrong?" Hanna asked frantically.

Paige shrugged, her hand moving to her back, and she doubled over the table again. "I need to get to a hospital. Now."


	12. Chapter 11 - Unnerved by this Hesitation

Paige woke up groggy and confused – her blurry vision coming into focus to see Hanna standing over her.

"Go back to sleep, babe," the blonde pleaded gently as she wiped some of the hair out of Paige's face. "Your mom's here. She was up all night, she's sleeping in the next bed."

Paige felt her mouth be completely dry and tried to reach on the side table for some water. She could barely think, her tongue felt so huge in her mouth.

"You can't have water. The doctors says they are keeping you hydrated in your IV. He said your mouth would be dry from the sedatives."

Paige tried to look for some, any saliva in her mouth to make her able to talk. It felt like she just ate an entire sleeve of saltine crackers without having a sip of water.

"What happened?" she asked after a few minutes.

"The doctor didn't explain anything to me, but your mom told me it was a kidney infection, a really bad one. That's why you were in pain. She said those hurt more than kidney stones."

Paige scoffed and tried to ignore the dryness in her throat and the insane headache that was building.

"Yeah, I know. I've had both several times. How's the kidney? Do you know?"

Hanna shrugged, looking petrified. "I don't know. I know they ran a lot of tests. I can wake your mom if you want to ask her."

"No, no. Let her sleep. Something tells me she won't sleep well from now on, so she needs to get it when she can."

The two let silence settle between them until Paige finally broke the silence.

"I told Emily. She didn't take it well. I don't know what I expected. I am such an idiot."

"No, Paige. No, no. You're not an idiot. Not at all. Emily knows that too."

"You've talked to her?"

"I – No, she hasn't answered me. I think her phone's off. I haven't left the hospital since you got her yesterday."

"She said she didn't want me to talk to her, so it's probably for the best. She doesn't need to know about all this."

"Paige, seriously. You have nothing to feel bad about except poor timing," Hanna said with a gentle smile.

"Poor timing?"

"She just got some shocking news about her dad before she talked to you. The man accused of murdering her dad was acquitted. She was really upset about it. And I just think she took out that frustration on you. Give her time, she will come around."

Paige closed her eyes and felt her throat constricting tighter, her eyes flooding with tears – moisture her body couldn't spare at the moment.

"Oh, my god, I am such an idiot. She said she had something to tell me. I should have let her talk first. I should have known."

"Paige. You have to stop blaming yourself. That isn't healthy. Seriously."

* * *

Emily couldn't seem to get up from her mother's bed for days. The two of them laid cuddled together as day turned to night and back into day and back into night. One would get up for the bathroom or for water or snacks – mostly, they'd lay in comfortable silence.

Emily felt guilty that when her thoughts should be exclusively on her father – they would shift to Paige. She tried to push the thoughts aside, but then a flash of hurt on Paige's face would appear in her thoughts and she felt sick. She wanted to feel anger and grief about the injustice in her father's death – but she would continue to see her girlfriend's sadness and it hurt her. But she couldn't face Paige yet.

Emily didn't have to ask her mother, she wouldn't be going to school Monday. Or Tuesday. The two of them had canceled all of their obligations in favor of laying in reflective silence.

* * *

"Paige, tell me exactly what you told her."

Paige's therapist sat in a seat next to Paige's hospital bed. She often didn't make 'house' calls, but Paige's room was just in another wing of the same hospital – so she made an exception.

"I will, but I don't want to do it with my mom in the room."

"Paige," her mother said sharply. Nicole hadn't left her daughter's room in three days and didn't intend to start now.

"Mom, the therapy sessions are supposed to be private. You know what happened. Plus, I am not just going to spontaneously die, so-"

"Do NOT even joke about that, Paige McCullers. Do not let that word leave your mouth again."

"Mom! My kidney's fine. Just let me talk to her in private, please. I promise we will get you if anything goes wrong."

Nicole looked at Paige's therapist for support, but got none. "Fine. I will be right outside that door."

As soon as the door clicked shut, Paige rolled her eyes. "If I thought she was overbearing before..."

"Paige, let your mother worry. You scared her, you scared me. You scared everyone."

"I'm sorry my body failing me at every other step is such an inconvenience for everyone."

"Paige, what has gotten into you? You've never been sarcastic or sharp with me – let alone your mother. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"Paige."

"Nothing. Emily and I kind of had a fight. And it was really bad and she said she would contact me, but it's been 4 days and I haven't heard from her."

"Yes, about that. Tell me what you told her. Did you tell her you were sick?"

Paige shifted uncomfortably in her hospital bed. "I already told her. She knew that. She took it... as well as you can, I guess."

"Ok, what was the fight about, then?"

"Um, I found out that my cadaver kidney came from her father. So I told her the truth, because I didn't want to keep it from her."

Paige watched as her therapist's eyes grew large at the news, but she tried to remain unaffected.

"I also happened to tell her about this just a few hours after she learned that her father's murderer was acquitted in court. So I think that was a little too much for her to take. Anyway, I haven't heard from her."

Her therapist nodded in comprehension and took a drink of water.

"And then there's that. The water. The doctors are measuring my fluid intake and I think they think I am a cactus. I haven't had more than 4 ounces of water per day since I got here."

"Paige. They are keeping you hydrated. You know fluid intake measurement is extremely important when they are monitoring the kidney."

"Yeah, easy for you to say. This is my life. Imagine not being able to drink a cup of water without measuring it and writing it down. Imagine measuring your urine every day. It's disgusting."

"It may be disgusting but it's saving your life."

"Yeah, what a life. The only girl I have ever loved can't even look at me. My mother is looking at me like I am made of tissue paper. And you still haven't said anything about how my girlfriend's murdered father's kidney is the only thing keeping me alive."

Paige's therapist shrugged and exhaled loudly. "Did you ever think that of all the girls who you'd like and all the girls who'd like you back – that Emily is the one for a reason?"

"Like – fate?"

Her therapist offered a soft smile and shrugged. "Sure. Fate."

"I used to believe in fate but I don't anymore."

* * *

Hanna knocked on Emily's door Monday and Tuesday – by Wednesday, she grew so frustrated by her friend's absence from school and refusal to look at her phone.

"EMILY!" she shouted at Emily's bedroom window Wednesday afternoon. "Emily! I know you're in there! Your car is outside. Let me in."

Emily woke up to the sound of her friend shouting to her – confused about where she was and for a blissful moment – she had forgotten everything that had been burdening her for days. Then, it all came rushing back to her.

The brunette almost immediately started sobbing when the memories hit her. After collecting herself for a few minutes, she made her way to the front door to open it for Hanna.

"Jesus, Em," Hanna said as soon as she walked in, wrapping her arms around her fragile looking friend. "You can't do that. You can't go AWOL on your friends when something big happens. You can't."

Emily nodded into Hanna's neck in between sobs, feeling the tears flood from her eyes.

After holding her friend close for a few minutes, Hanna lead the two of them to the couch, where Emily laid her head on Hanna's lap.

Hanna brushed Emily's hair gently.

"You want to talk about it?"

Emily just shook her head and sniffled.

"It might help," Hanna suggested again. "I heard the lawyers are going to try and get the guy who supplied the alibi on perjery charges. That could help – right? And they could charge the shooter with some other crime? Not as severe charges as murder, but he'd still be in jail."

Emily just shrugged. She had all but given up keeping up with the case. It seemed hopeless.

Not only was her father's murderer still on the streets – but he was a cop killer. He shot her father in cold blood. A vicious murderer was still on the streets.

"Paige is doing better," Hanna supplied.

"I don't want to talk about Paige right now, Han."

"Ok, I just thought you'd like to know she should be released from the hospital by the weekend. Maybe sooner."

Emily sat up quickly – dehydrated from the tears – she felt all the blood rush to her head as soon as she did it. She immediately felt like her head was swimming.

"Hospital?" she choked on the word. "What are you talking about?"

Hanna's face spoke volumes to Emily. "You.. I texted you and Facebook messaged you like 100 times."

"I.. haven't checked. My phone died. I... why is she in the hospital? How long has she been there?"

"After you left the restaurant this weekend. She got sick. I took her. She.. she.. she was pretty sick for the first few days. She had a kidney infection which is really, really painful and very bad – because her body isn't really strong enough to fight infections right now. But she's been doing really well."

Emily stood up quickly - "We need to go see her. We need to..." Emily's head felt like it was filling with lead, her body suddenly felt like jello – and that was the last thing she remembered.

Until she felt Hanna slapping her across the face.

"Hanna! Jesus! What!"

"You passed out. Drink this," the blond said, shoving a cup of water under her mouth. "I really need my friends to stop having medical emergencies in my presence. I am going to develop a complex."

Emily drank eagerly, suddenly feeling very thirsty.

"When's the last time you had food? Or water? Or a shower, for that matter?"

Emily finished chugging the water and shrugged one shoulder. Hanna filled the cup again with a nearby Britta filter pitcher and handed it back to Emily.

"Ok, great answer. So you need to eat food before you die of starvation. Because I am not going to have that on my conscious."

Hanna got up and rooted through the fridge – taking a banana from the counter and some chilled pasta from a take out container. The blond tossed her friend the banana as she heated up the pasta in the microwave.

"Eat before you actually die."

Emily obliged, but didn't actually feel hunger until she took her first bite of banana – then the days without any substantial food came flooding back to her.

Hanna sat down on the floor next to where Emily had passed out and handed her the pasta.

"Eat, then we can talk about you going to see Paige."

"I need to go see her," Emily insisted.

"We will," Hanna confirmed.

"She probably hates me."

"I kind of hated you, to be honest. I thought you got my messages about her being sick and were ignoring them on purpose. I told Paige I didn't contact you because I didn't want her to know you didn't respond."

Emily cast her eyes down and poked idly at her pasta.

"It's the only time I've lied to Paige and I didn't like doing it, Emily. I don't like lying to my friends. Especially my friends who are gravely ill in the hospital."

"I know," Emily replied quietly.

"She's a really nice person, ya know?" Hanna asked rhetorically. "And this thing with your dad's organ is not something she could control. She didn't know where it came from. She didn't kill your dad. She would have died without it. She would have died. Is that what you'd want? That Paige never got your dad's kidney and that she died? And you know, when she found out the truth – she didn't keep it from you for more than an hour. She told you immediately. She was so scared to tell you, you know? She was so, so scared. But I told her you'd want to know the truth and that this wouldn't change how you feel about her. Now look at the idiot I am. Why would she ever believe another word I say after this, Em? She was scared to tell you and she did and then you stormed out and ignore her for days. What is that, huh?"

Hanna didn't have the courage to look at her friend during her rant – because she knew she'd lose her nerve if she did.

"I want to take you to see Paige, Em. And I will." Hanna paused when she heard Emily choke back a sob next her her. "But if you're going to storm out again, or if you're going to ignore her – or if you can't handle this thing with your dad, just leave her alone. Because she shouldn't have to go through that twice."

Hanna stood up without chancing a glance back at Emily, knowing she'd need to leave her friend alone to think it over.

"If you figure it out – call me."

* * *

Emily sat on the floor – unmoving – after Hanna left. She had let her friend's words sink in, and she knew she was right. She couldn't go back to Paige unless she was absolutely sure she could emotionally handle all of this new information.

Her heart pumped so wildly that she felt it echoing in her chest with every beat.

Finally, she heard her mom's car pull into the driveway and finally found the strength to stand up.

Her mother had recovered from the shock of it all before Emily. She was able to get back to a normal routine – something Emily thought would be impossible.

Her mom came in the house with two handfuls of grocery bags. The women had been surviving on take-out and snacks and hadn't had real food in the house in days.

"Emmy. Good to see you out of bed, baby."

"Hanna stopped by."

Pam nodded in approval as she put the grocery bags on the kitchen table. "And Paige?"

The mention of her girlfriend's name filled her eyes with tears. "No, mom. Paige is pretty sick. She's umm, she's in the hospital."

Pam looked up from the groceries and walked over to her daughter, enveloping her in a strong hug.

"There's something I need to tell you about her," Emily sighed deeply, her head still buried in her mom's shoulder.

Pam broke their hug and grabbed Emily by the shoulders to look in her eyes. "What is it, angel? Is everything okay between you two?"

Emily laughed humorlessly and wiped her eyes and nose on her sweater sleeve.

"Things could probably be better."

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital to visit her?"

Emily shook her head no, which caused Pam's eyebrows to raise on her forehead. Just a few days prior, Paige was all Emily could talk about. She was the only person Emily would hang out with for weeks. This came as a genuine surprise.

Emily breathed in deep and looked at her mom. "Do you remember when dad first died... a few weeks later, we got a letter from one of his organ recipients?"

Pam nodded, her eyebrows now creased in confusion.

"Well, that was from Paige. She just told me about it a few days ago. She was really, really sick. And..."

Pam let out a small laugh and looked up.

"Oh Wayne," she said with a chuckle.

It was Emily's turn to look confused now, and she let out a noise that was probably something like "what?" or "huh?"

"Even after he dies, you father can't help but meddle in your love life."

Emily made a silent noise, trying to comprehend what her mother was saying.

"A life-saver even in death, that man. Of course his last act on this earth is saving the life of the girl you'd love. That's your dad, sweetheart. Would you expect anything less of him? Do you know your father has the rarest blood type on this planet? What are the odds, you think, that he'd be a match for Paige?"

Emily couldn't wrap her head around her mother's reaction. All she could remember was her mother sobbing on the couch the day she had gotten that letter in the mail. She had not seen her mom look so tiny and fragile. It was like the weight of her father's death was finally sinking on.

Now, this? Laughing about it all?

Emily was dumbstruck, so Pam kept talking.

"When you were born, your dad made it his life's goal to make sure you were happy and cared for. I think he'd be thrilled to know he helped save the life of the girl that did both for you."

Emily finally smiled at that – she knew her mom was telling the truth. "You really think so?" Emily finally choked out, the sobs filling her throat. For the first time in a long time, they were happy tears.

"Oh yes, baby. And why aren't you visiting her in the hospital? Tell me it's not because of this?"

Emily felt the tears spill over her eyes, her whole body filling with guilt. She nodded, unable to come up with the right words.

"Well, that's silly. I was lucky to find my soul mate when I was 20 and we had 20 wonderful years together before he was taken for me. And I'd give just about anything for one more day with him. Why in the world would you choose to spend time away from Paige, especially when she needs you the most?"

Emily wiped the tears away for the hundredth time that day, and straightened her posture. "You're totally right. Let's go there now."


End file.
